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TENTH
ANNUAL 40-HOUR FAST
“Those
who opress the needy, insult their maker.” How sick is this system that puts profits before patients? In 2004, the United States spent $1.79 trillion or 15.5% of its GDP on health care. That amounts to $6,167 for every man, woman and child in the country. At the same time, the World Health Organization rated the U.S. 37th in overall system performance. We spend more per person than does any other developed country, yet in life expectancy we come in at 29th, between Slovenia and Portugal. Prescription drugs in the U.S. cost 30% to 60% more than the exact same medication sold anywhere else in the industrialized world. Such profiteering gives drug companies the highest profit margin (20%) and the lowest taxes (6%) of any industry on the planet. And they pay for this continuing windfall with 620 full time Washington lobbyists. Almost 1/3 of every health care dollar goes to CEOs, stockholders, and insurance companies generally fighting patient claims. This compares to just 3.2% overhead costs for U.S. Medicare, a single payer system that virtually all seniors agree should be maintained. The new Medicare prescription drug bill forbids the U.S. from negotiating drug prices, thereby denying seniors the 40% to 60% savings Canada has negotiated in the past. It also forbids the reimportation of drugs from Canada. Ten days after the bill's signing, Thomas Suly, chief architect of the Medicare drug bill, left government and took his position with one of the biggest pharmaceutical lobbying firms in D.C. More about... The
Tenth Annual 40-hour FAST The number 40 has special significance in both religious and labor traditions. In religious history, the 40 days of Lent, the 40 days of rain in the Great Flood, and the Israelites' 40 years of wandering in the desert are a few examples of this deeply symbolic number. The 40-hour work week, which gave workers the week-end for rest, was won only after years of hard struggle and sacrifice by the labor movement. In our fasting, we lift up our belief that access to health care is a basic moral andhuman right. The richest nation on eth earth cannot continue to deny health care to millions of its citizens The New York State Labor-Religion Coalition and its twelve affiliates sponsor events across the state during the 40 hours. For more information, visit our web site www.labor-religion.org or call 518/613-6000, ext. 6294. Last
Updated: 02/18/2005 |
