July 7, 2012
Fighting Bob Radio: Health care and social justice
By David Giffey
Health care in the U.S. “is a social justice issue,” said Dr. Daniel Bennett on Thursday’s Fighting Bob Radio show.
Bennett, of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), and Progressive magazine editor Matt Rothschild were guests on Ed Garvey’s hour-long weekly radio blog with host Eric Schubring.
Talking about last week’s U.S. Supreme Court upholding a lukewarm Affordable Care Act, the panelists considered ways to push for a single-payer system and bring to term a health care policy in the U.S. comparable to working systems enjoyed by many citizens of developed nations.
“We recognize that single-payer is the way we should evolve toward, and hopefully will one day,” said Bennett. He sits on the steering committee of Wisconsin’s PNHP chapter.
Isn’t the Affordable Care Act a step in that direction?
Not quite, said Bennett, noting that the act expands the health insurance industry while it broadens some aspects of coverage for Americans. He’s not sure that the act is a good first step toward single-payer.
“We’re stuck defending the Affordable Care Act which we don’t like,” he said. Additionally, on the executive horizon in Washington, Barack Obama is the candidate more likely to move toward single-payer. Faint praise at best.
Conservative rhetoric screeching that the Affordable Care Act puts government in charge of making health care decisions just doesn’t hold water. For one thing, what’s Medicare if not a government program, and a highly popular one at that? And the favors granted to private insurance companies through the Affordable Care Act are not in anyone’s best interests, other than insurance corporations.
“I would rather have a government that is responsive to voters than corporations that are responsive to shareholders,” said the physician.
What to do? “We need to broaden our appeal,” Bennett said. That involves small businesses outside the insurance industry that would realize important relief with a single-payer system. And religious communities, many of which uphold and work for the tenets of social justice. And, yes, job creators foundering under the existing system that results “in a large number of personal bankruptcies due to health care.”
Editor Rothschild echoed Bennett’s critique of the Affordable Care Act, saying that the reforms it brings are insufficient “but we’ve got to defend them.” He proposed expanded Progressive councils in states not fortunate enough to be home to a Fighting Bob Fest, as is Wisconsin.
Garvey said statewide progressive forums are being considered by Fighting Bob Fest veterans in places like Iowa (Tom Harkin) and Vermont (Bernie Sanders).
FightingBob.com editor and publisher Ed Garvey is joined by host WOJB radio host Eric Schubring on the live show at 11 a.m. each Thursday. Listeners can call in during the show with questions and comments at (213) 943-3485.
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