Healthcare for all is a responsibility. It is a responsibility of the American people to the American people. A responsibility of humans to humans. We have, in our system of government, both a private sector and a public sector. Within the private sector, we each buy things for ourselves. Within the public sector, we all buy things for each other. Both are necessary components of a healthy society.

 

Healthcare for all will relieve small businesses from the stress of having to search for a plan that they and their employees can afford. It will be a big plus for all small businesses. But it will be a bonus for big business as well. Another win/win situation.

 

We can do this for each other through social insurance. It is another form of social security. It does not mean America becomes a socialist country. We maintain our capitalism, but lean a little more on the public sector for the things the private sector can’t do for all. The private sector requires profit to continue. The public sector does not. The public sector’s concern is the well-being of the public. No one’s family should ever face financial ruin because someone in the family is sick. No one should ever delay going to the doctor because they can’t afford it. No one should ever have to choose between going to the doctor or paying rent.

 

My belief is that a Congress that can and will immediately deliver on the Social Security issue will be a Congress that can work together on this issue because it will already be a more united Congress. But again, it will take longer than saving Social Security.

 

We need to provide incentives to attract more people into jobs as actual healthcare workers, such as doctors and nurses. At the same time, we must begin to gradually diminish the number of bureaucratic jobs that are a result of a private sector health insurance industry. This bureaucracy that exists in healthcare is not government bureaucracy; it is bureaucracy created by the private sector health insurance industry. 

 

In addition to this vast private sector bureaucracy, there exists the need in the private sector healthcare industry for stockholders of insurance companies to make a profit. Insurance companies can increase this profit by holding back healthcare for customers. A public sector insurance program, like Social Security that is not for profit, can keep healthcare as its focus, not profit. This does not mean that it should not be judicial in what it covers, but that true healthcare can be the priority. 

 

A simpler, single payer system will reduce much need for extra bureaucracy within the industry. But again, we must make the transition smooth and help those who have bureaucratic type jobs transition into the new, more healthcare-oriented system.