Corporate greed creates crises

The following article by Phil E Benjamin from the Communist 
Party USA newspaper People's Weekly World has an all too 
familiar ring to it, right down to the millions of dollars being 
splashed around by a desperate government trying to convince the 
electorate that it is looking after their health and protecting 
Medicare.

Two simple examples of the unrelenting attack on working people: 
drug prices and no paid sick time at work. Two examples of 
corporate greed: Bush's use of taxpayer money to advertise his 
bogus Medicare legislation and the massive give-away to Medicare 
HMO [Health Management Organisations — US private health 
insurance companies] profiteers. These examples emphasise the 
importance of replacing Republicans with pro-people candidates in 
the year 2004 election.

Drug prices are killing people

A front page story in the May 19 issue of the Wall Street 
Journal says it all: "Higher Co-pays May Take Toll on 
Health."

A joint study by the Harvard Medical School and Medco Health 
Solutions found that when co-payments were doubled for common 
prescription drugs, 31 percent of people with allergic rhinitis 
stopped taking their prescribed drugs.

Arthritis sufferers dropped their drug use by 27 percent, and 
patients with diabetes dropped their drug use for that life 
threatening illness by 23 percent.

An increase in co-payment from as little as US$5 to US$10 can 
make that life change.

Another study, this one by the Institute for Women's Policy 
Research has found that over 60 million workers cannot take paid 
time off if they are sick.

Of course, those earning the lowest wages are also those with the 
least sick time. Low-wage workers also often end up with the most 
dangerous work, work that only attracts desperate unemployed or 
soon-to-be-unemployed workers.

The attack on women, in this area of worker exploitation, is even 
more dramatic. The Institute found that women workers, especially 
those with family responsibilities, have higher rates of illness 
and absenteeism than men do, yet are less likely than men to be 
entitled to any paid time off.

Where's the money?

The Bush administration and its corporate allies and media 
experts are quick to talk about the need for administrative cost 
effectiveness and productivity ("keep 'em working"), but when it 
comes to feeding their corporate allies, the sky's the limit.

For example, the Government Accounting Office, one of the few 
remaining independent government agencies, has found that the 
Bush administration broke the law in using public monies to 
advertise its bogus Medicare Program.

Now, you have to really be blatant to get this kind of ruling and 
in fact the Bush administration's "info-mercials" were pure "Bush 
for President" propaganda.

Millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on this partisan effort. 
That money would have been better spent in getting drugs into the 
hands of those in need.

Millions to privatise Medicare HMOs

Finally, in an excellent report, the Commonwealth Fund revealed 
that the federal government under the Bush administration paid an 
extra $2.75 billion in 2004 to the private, mostly for-profit 
HMOs to remain in the Medicare Program. This is over and above 
the money that these HMO insurance carriers routinely receive 
when a Medicare recipient leaves the federal program and joins a 
private Medicare HMO.

Dump Bush and change Congress

Facts from these reports are just a few more tools to use to 
explain to your co-workers, family and friends how important this 
year's election is. The White House is certainly within reach as 
are both the House and Senate. Let's get to work.