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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Nathan White
(202)225-5871

"This Debate is the Wrong Debate. A For-Profit Model is the Wrong Model"

WASHINGTON

Speaking
today on the House floor, Congressman Kucinich (D-OH) continued to
build the case for a single-payer, not-for-profit health care system
that would provide quality health care for all for less money than we
currently spend.

See the video here. The full text follows:
"We
have a for-profit health care system, where $800,000,000,000 every year
is spent on corporate profits, stock options, executive salaries,
advertising, marketing and the cost of paperwork.
"In
the for-profit system that we have, nearly one out of every three
health care dollars goes for things not related to health care. If we
took that $800,000,000,000 and spent it on care for people, we'd have
enough money to cover all medically necessary needs in addition to
dental care, vision care, mental health care, prescription drugs and
long-term care.
"We
would not have a situation where 50 million Americans don't have any
health insurance. Americans would not have to worry about losing
everything they have worked a lifetime for because they have an illness
in the family.
"This
debate is the wrong debate. A for-profit model is the wrong model. We
should be talking about universal health care, single-payer
not-for-profit health care, Medicare for All, quality health care for
all Americans."
Kucinich
was a co-author of Medicare for All, H.R. 676, in the 111th Congress.
The bill is expected to be reintroduced in the 112th Congress.

Dennis Kucinich is an American politician. A U.S. Representative from Ohio from 1997 to 2013, he was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2004 and 2008.