Dennis Kucinich: Why I voted NO on HR 3962

Former 2008 Democratic Presidential candidate and Congressman of Ohio released a statement to provide reasons why he voted no on the recent health care reform legislation that passed the House of Representatives.

Representative and former 2004 and 2008 Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich, who carries a United States Constitution in his jacket pocket, explained why he voted no on the recent health care legislation that passed in the middle of the night on Saturday in the House of Representatives. Kucinich published his statement on CommonDreams.org on Sunday and first began by stating that the US public cannot blame insurance companies for what they are “But we can fault legislation in which the government incentivizes the perpetuation, indeed the strengthening, of the for-profit health insurance industry, the very source of the problem.” The Congressman, who has served in Washington since 1996 has called several times for the impeachment of former President George W. Bush and former Vice-President Dick Cheney, further added that insurance companies are part of the problem and not the solution because “they are driving up the cost of health care.” He later says that insurance companies’ bureaucracy helps avoid paying the bills and that since 1970 the number of administrative personnel in hospitals and doctors’ offices have increased 3000 per cent. “It's no wonder why that 31 cents of every health care dollar is spent on administrative costs, not toward providing care.” Kucinich comes to the conclusion that House Resolution 3962 would not eliminate for-profit insurance but actually accelerate the privatization of health care, “In H.R. 3962, the government is requiring at least 21 million Americans to buy private health insurance from the very industry that causes costs to be so high, which will result in at least $70 billion in new annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and higher profits for insurance companies - a bailout under a blue cross.” Washington’s latest efforts at rebuilding America’s health care system will actually redistribute wealth to Wall Street, says Kucinich, at the expense of the country’s manufacturing and service economies. Kucinich explains that this move by the government will make America less competitive in the “real economy” such as steel, automotive, aerospace and shipping. “Notwithstanding the fate of H.R. 3962, America will someday come to recognize the broad social and economic benefits of a not-for-profit, single-payer health care system, which is good for the American people and good for America's businesses, with of course the notable exceptions being insurance and pharmaceuticals." On Monday, according to The Hill, Kucinich once again attacked the Democratic bill by stating that it’s not better than the status quo because “It locks us into a for-profit system that the government subsidizes.” He further iterated that it’s not going save America any money and, instead, limit choice the general public need.