Linkagogo Archive 1: Health Care

Stephen Hill Linkography: Income & Spending

Author Steven Hill Compares the U.S. Tax System With Those of European Countries

Interview (audio): 13 April 2010, host Andrew Stelzer – National Radio Project. As part of the “Tax the Rich, Help Save America” program broadcasted by the NRP, listen to Hill describe in detail the difference in tax benefits and burdens in Europe and the US.

The Myth of Europe's High Taxes
Article: 23 February 2010 – On the Commons. So a thorough analysis would need to create a ledger in which all the supports and services Europeans and Americans receive are listed on one side and the amount of taxes and any additional out-of-pocket fees they pay are listed on the other. When you sum up the total balance sheet, it turns out that Americans pay out as much as Europeans – but we receive a lot less for our money.

The Myth Of The Overtaxed Europeans And Other Modern Fables
Blog: How's Europe Doing - posted 19 November 2010 - The Washington Monthly. Child care in the United States costs more than $12,000 annually for a family with two children. In some countries in Europe, child care is free. In others, they pay $1000-$2000 per year, depending on their income. So they are paying at most only one-sixth of what Americans are paying, and the quality is far superior.

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Stephen Hill Linkography: Health Care Reform

Can Obama Bypass Republicans on Health?

Article: 22 February 2010 at NYTimes.com. By using reconciliation, President Obama will return the Senate to the original vision of the founders. And he will pass health care legislation that will allow millions of fellow Americans to enjoy a level of health care security that the president and the senators themselves already enjoy.

Healthcare Tests the Senate’s Credibility
Article: 30 November 2009 - Financial Times.
America’s healthcare debate has been like a tennis match, bouncing from the Senate to the House of Representatives and back again. Now it is back in the Senate, as the US tries to end its status as the only advanced economy without universal healthcare for its people.

There's No Place Like Europe: Steven Hill on Medical House Calls, Multiparty Politics, and Other American Fantasies
Interview: Monday 18 October 2010 - by Alissa Bohling for Truthout.
During this lengthy interview Hill touched on the kind of support Europeans have that Americans don't have. He gave this example: "An American friend of mine living in Toulouse France got a hornet sting when I was visiting her. She calls up her doctor and, 20 minutes later, there's the French doctor with his little black bag. What does that feel like to a person, to know that you have that kind of access to the support that you need?"

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Stephen Hill Linkography: Health Care Solutions

What Obama Can Learn from European Health Care (Part I)
Article: 3 March 2009 - The Globalist. Health care related inefficiencies are continuing to hurt American workers and businesses -- and increasingly will hurt U.S. competitiveness in the global economy. President Barack Obama, to his credit, is doing what he can in difficult times to extend health care coverage to some of the 47 million Americans currently lacking it. Recently he signed legislation to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which will provide subsidized health care to up to four million mostly low-income children.

What Obama Can Learn from European Health Care (Part II) Article: 4 March 2009 - The Globalist. More pointers on what the U.S. healthcare system could take from Europe.

Climate Change, Health, Economy: Three European Tips For Obama
Article: 19 January 2009 - cafebabel.com: The European Magazine. In France and Germany service fees are negotiated between representatives of the healthcare professions, the government, patient consumer representatives and the private non-profit insurance companies. Like in the American system for Medicare, together they establish a national agreement for treatment procedures, fee structures and rate ceilings. These prevent the soaring health care costs that have plagued American businesses.

Don't Want Swine Flu with Lunch? Then Offer Paid Sick Leave
Posted: 26 June 2009 - Huffington Post. Who could be opposed to policy as sensible as making it possible for workers to stay home when they are sick? Business owners, that's who. Owners of small companies argue that forcing them to offer paid sick days would be a costly mandate, especially at a time when businesses already are coping with a struggling economy. Candidate Barack Obama voiced strong support for legislation giving all American workers paid sick leave. But President Obama has made a habit of backtracking on things he said on the campaign trail.

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Steven Hill Linkography: U.S. Slips

Lessons from the Gulf of Mexico: US Needs a National Energy Policy like Europe’s
Article: 17 May 2010 – Social Europe Journal. Every day that the massive black plume off the Louisiana coast sprays into the sea is a reminder of how much the United States has failed to transition to a modern energy regime. Given the stakes over global warming, Europe has emerged as ‘the indispensable nation’, while the United States, the largest per capita polluter in the world, continues to fiddle as the earth burns.

Hill Proposes European Economic Structure for U.S.
Article: 1 April 2011 By Alex Kessler. On March 30, Hill’s U.S. book tour took him to Georgia Tech to speak on behalf of the European Union Center of Excellence (EUCE) for the IMPACT Speaker Series. Hill’s arguments boil down to adopting social programs such as free education and healthcare to support families and workers; the less people spend on necessities, the more they can spend commercially, circulating money.

Germany Speaks Out
Article: 12 November 2010 – New York Times. Also published as: Merkel, Germany, Overthrow Obama, U.S., at G-20. Following America’s catalytic role in bringing the global economy to the brink of disaster, followed by Obama’s weakened political position after the Nov. 2 mid-term elections, the U.S. is now losing the global argument over what is the best development model for the 21st century. At the Group of 20 meeting in Seoul Germany spoke out. Let’s hope Obama and Geithner were listening because the world is no longer automatically following America’s lead.

America's Failed Model for the World

Article: September 16, 2009 - The Guardian. As Europeans watch the United States flailing about over something as basic as healthcare, they are reminded once again of the impotent US response following Hurricane Katrina. As one European put it...

The Myth of Europe's High Taxes
Article: 23 February 2010 – On the Commons. This myth is busted! The truth is, Hill points out, that when all the supports and services Europeans and Americans receive are listed on one side of a ledger and the amount of taxes and any additional out-of-pocket fees they pay are listed on the other, it turns out that Americans pay out as much as Europeans – but receive a lot less in return.

French Protesters: 'Where are you Americans?'
Blog: How's Europe Doing - posted: 23 Oct 2010 - The Washington Monthly. During a protest against proposed retirement age legislation in

France, Hill talks to some of the young protesters on the streets in Paris who wonder why young Americans, frustrated and angry over US government policies, are not out protesting like the French.

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