The name of the threat facing 44 million Americans is not Saddam
Hussein ““Â it is health care, or a lack of it, former
Massachusetts governor and presidential candidate Michael Dukakis
said Tuesday.
Dukakis, who spoke at a forum sponsored by the Bruin Democrats,
said the White House administration’s obsession with Saddam
Hussein is keeping Washington officials from focusing on more
important issues, such as universal health care and public
transportation.
In the United States, Americans spend twice as much per capita
on health care as Japan, Korea, Germany and Sweden, but these
countries benefit from universal health coverage, Americans do not,
he said.
“The emergency room is very expensive. Universal coverage
will save you money because when folks first get sick they’ll
go to the doctor for only fifty dollars,” said Dukakis.
According to Dukakis, 85 percent of Americans without health
insurance are members of working families, 6 to 7 million of whom
live in California.
“The little guy in this country is getting screwed every
day,” said Dukakis.
Those who pay high health care premiums bear the burden of
emergency room bills created by the uninsured, he said.
There is also the worry that as the inflation of health care
costs continues, small businesses currently providing employees
with health care will drop insurance benefits as they become
unaffordable. As this happens, more people will enter emergency
rooms without insurance and inflation will climb even higher.
“We need to stop the cycle,” Dukakis said.
Dukakis criticized the reform attempts of former President Bill
Clinton as “too complicated.” He said a great model for
universal health care comes from former President Richard
Nixon.
In 1971, Nixon proposed a health care program in which all
employers would be mandated to provide their employees with health
coverage. The plan never received national acceptance but in 1974
was adopted by Hawaii.
“The best health outcomes in America are in Hawaii,”
Dukakis said.
But universal health care does not work at the state level,
mainly because state legislatures fear businesses will move to a
neighboring state if required to provide health insurance to all
employees, he said.
Dukakis does not believe this will happen because the majority
of businesses that do not provide health care are retail or fast
food restaurants. Their demand is not strong enough to bring
customers across state lines.
“I’m not driving 40 miles for a burger,”
Dukakis said.
For universal health care to be accepted, businesses need to
realize it is in their best interest, according to Dukakis. Most
doctors, he said, already support the idea.
Dukakis said universal health care cannot succeed in Congress
alone but is dependent upon a president who is passionately
committed to providing all Americans with equal medical
coverage.
Another issue Dukakis said is of importance to Americans,
especially in Los Angeles, is public transportation.
“Congestion and traffic in the United States is a
disaster,” Dukakis said.
He proposed an infrastructure-based public transportation
system, like the train system in France, that would drastically cut
travel time and would stimulate the economy.
Dukakis said the true threats to Americans are overshadowed by
United States dependence on the Middle East oil pipe.
“This guy in Iraq is about ninth on the list of threats.
He hardly deserves an invasion. Our economy is in the toilet. High
gas prices are the Bush war tax,” Dukakis said.