An infected Band-Aid

Those who a year ago pinned their hopes on putting the Democratic Party back in charge of the White House and the Congress showed their disappointment in the recent election—mostly by not voting.

There are many reasons for this. The administration’s continuation of the war in Afghanistan and spreading it to Pakistan is one very big reason, but the health care bill that just passed in the House will only add to the disillusionment.

So many compromises were made to get right-wing Democrats on board that what was touted as a huge victory for reform has many elements that are actually a step backward for the working class and especially for women.

Republicans, of course, didn’t vote for the bill, even with all the compromises. They are playing the role of the opposition and seeking to win over those dissatisfied with the present state of the economy. Although they are the quintessential party of Wall Street, they are capitalizing on the unpopularity of the government’s handouts to the big banks and trying to convince the public that the Obama administration is secretly “socialist.” This and their red-baiting of the health care bill are ludicrous. The bill may help some people presently denied health insurance, but in general it is another big handout to the corporations.

The bill is 1,900 pages long. We have not read it. But we have seen the criticisms by progressive Democrats who see it as a betrayal of their efforts to bring about real reform of health care. For that to happen, the bill would have to challenge the huge profits that make this the most costly health care system in the world.

Many of those who campaigned strongly for health reform are slamming this bill. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) says the bill “would put the government in the role of accelerating the privatization of health care” and that it would force 21 million people in this country 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” for the private insurers. Kucinich was one of two progressive Democrats who voted against it.

The National Organization for Women is furious at the House for passing “the worst blow to women’s fundamental right to self-determination in order to buy a few votes for reform of the profit-driven health insurance industry.” This refers to the last-minute deal in which any funding for abortion was dropped from the bill, thereby making it even more difficult for young and poor women, especially, to end an unwanted pregnancy.

Furthermore, today some 43 million women in the U.S. rely on contraception to avoid an unintended pregnancy. The House bill does not include among its list of required services any contraceptive services or testing for sexually transmitted diseases or even pelvic exams, even though these are basic, preventive measures that tens of millions of women need. If women cannot afford these services, there will be more unwanted pregnancies, abortions and health problems.

One of the most eloquent attacks on the bill came from Donna Smith of the film “Sicko” and the group Healthcare Not Warfare. She told Congress: “Stripping away all reference to a progressively financed, single standard of high-quality healthcare for all—also known as single-payer—is done only to more deeply ensconce the deep-pocketed interests in healthcare: the private, for-profit insurance giants, the big pharmaceuticals, the medical equipment companies, the hospital corporations and all the others making huge profits as thousands die needless deaths. Healthcare is a basic human right.”

Amid all the Republican demagogy that this is a “socialist” health plan, it is important to look again at a health system that truly is socialist and has done wonders to improve the health of millions of people.

Cuba, with just a tiny fraction of the money spent on health care in this country, has built up a system to keep people healthy that has not only raised its own health statistics to among the best in the Western Hemisphere but has sent medical personnel all over the underdeveloped world to provide free care to those who need it most.

Here are the undisputed figures on the two health indices that most clearly show social progress: Infant mortality in Cuba has sunk to 6 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared to 7.2 deaths in the U.S. Life expectancy in Cuba has now reached 77.5 years, compared to 78.1 in the U.S.

At the time of the Cuban Revolution, diseases of poverty and poor sanitation were rife. In the countryside, children’s bellies were swollen from intestinal parasites. Polio took a big toll in the 1950s. Cane cutters and other agricultural workers seldom got adequate treatment for injuries.

Today the Cuban health system—free and universal—provides everyone with regular checkups, inoculations and treatment. You can choose your neighborhood doctor, who will follow up on your health from the cradle to the grave. There is no private insurance industry skimming off profits, no private pharmaceutical industry skimming off profits, no private hospitals skimming off profits. That’s how a poor country, whose economy has been straitjacketed by the U.S. blockade, is nevertheless able to provide free care for everyone.

This was made possible by the 1959 revolution, which rid Cuba of the capitalist bosses and land owners controlled by Wall Street. It is socialist health care—the real thing.