{"id":1126,"date":"2008-06-23T23:42:22","date_gmt":"2008-06-24T07:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.stier.net\/?p=1126"},"modified":"2011-07-23T22:05:43","modified_gmt":"2011-07-23T22:05:43","slug":"gop-health-care-plan-copies-chairman-mao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marcstier.com\/blog2\/?p=1126","title":{"rendered":"GOP health care plan copies Chairman Mao"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published in the Morning Call, June 23, 2008<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In 1965, Communist China was one of the poorest countries of the world. Chairman Mao Tse-Tung created a program\u2014widely known as the Barefoot Doctors program\u2014to provide health care for his impoverished people.\u00a0 The Barefoot Doctors, who had a minimal level of medical training, offered basic primary care to people for whom no other medical care was available.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In 2008, the United States is the richest country the world has ever known. And yet Senate Republicans are proposing a similar program for the uninsured of Pennsylvania. Rather than do what every other wealthy country in the world has done\u2014help the uninsured purchase affordable health insurance\u2014they have taken a page from Chairman Mao. They are calling on heavily oversubscribed health clinics and volunteer physicians to give primary care to a half million Pennsylvanians.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This program is an insult to both the uninsured and physicians.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It is an insult to the uninsured\u2014the vast majority of whom works full time and pay taxes on what they earn\u2014because, in the richest country in the world charity should supplement not replace health insurance. Every one of our hard-working tax-paying should be able to purchase affordable health insurance. And everyone should have more than just primary health care. They also should have access to:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n