Colin Powell Supports Universal Health Care

Colin Powell, speaking in Seattle at a forum for survivors of prostate cancer (a history that readers of this space will know that he and I share), made an impassioned plea in favor of universal health care in America.  The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State had this to say:

"I am not an expert in health care, or Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, or however you choose to describe it, but I do know this: I have benefited from that kind of universal health care in my 55 years of public life, and I don't see why we can't do what Europe is doing, what Canada is doing, what Korea is doing, what all these other places are doing."

"All these other places" have a "single payer" health care system, akin to "Medicare for all."  It's what many Democrats had actually been hoping for in the Health Care initiative.  Readers of this space will certainly know that I have strongly backed Obamacare as a way to increase Medicaid to the poor and help subsidize those of modest means to afford health insurance.  It's a huge improvement over the way things have been done (or not done, to be more accurate) in our country, for it's a moral imperative that everyone deserves needed medical care.  

Most people agree.  In a November CNN/ORC Poll, 40% of the people supported Obamacare and 58% did not.  But of those, 14% were opposed because they felt Obamacare doesn't go far enough. Add those to the 40% who back Obamacare and you have a majority who feel  public action is called for compared to 44% who don't.  AS CNN puts it,  "That means that 54% either support Obamacare, or say it's not liberal enough."

Powell gives voice to this view.  Alex Lazar of ABC News relates how 

Powell told the audience about a woman named Anne, who as his firewood supplier, faced a healthcare scare of her own. Anne asked Powell to help pay for her healthcare bills, as her insurance didn't cover an MRI she needed as a prerequisite to being treated for a growth in her brain. In addition, Powell's wife Alma recently suffered from three aneurysms and an artery blockage. "After these two events, of Alma and Anne, I've been thinking, why is it like this?" said Powell.

That is certainly the same question most people with a heart and an open mind have been asking for a long time now.  Why is it so important in the minds of some to make sure sick people do not get medical treatment?  As Powell elaborated:

"We are a wealthy enough country with the capacity to make sure that every one of our fellow citizens has access to quality health care.  Let's show the rest of the world what our democratic system is all about and how we take care of all of our citizens.  I think universal health care is one of the things we should really be focused on, and I hope that will happen," said Powell. "Whether it's Obamacare, or son of Obamacare, I don't care. As long as we get it done.
                                    
Amen to that.