Submitted by arlenegloria on Fri, 02/26/2010 - 22:57

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Excerpt From John Nichols' article of Feb. 25, 2010 -(click below for full article)

Consider Dr. Young's assessment of the president's plan.

"Regrettably, the president's proposal is built on some of the worst aspects of the Senate bill," Young said, in an accurate assessment of Obama's approach. "For example, the president's proposal would ship hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to the private health insurance industry in the form of subsidies. And to help finance this, it would impose a new tax on health benefits of workers, especially those in high-cost states.

Added Young:

(Obama's proposal for an) individual mandate would force millions of middle-income uninsured Americans to buy insurers' skimpy products - insurance policies full of gaps like ever-rising co-pays, deductibles and premiums. Such policies already leave middle-class American families vulnerable to economic hardship and medical bankruptcy in the event of a serious illness like cancer," continued Young, citing a recent study.

Even so, at least 23 million people would remain uninsured," he said. "We know that being uninsured raises your chance of dying by about 40 percent," he continued, citing another recent study. "That translates into about 23,000 unnecessary deaths each year. As physicians, we find this completely unacceptable.

Please visit The Nation for the full article: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/534817/the_missing_voices_at_the_health_care_summit