Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has waded into the health care debate with a broad endorsement of the kind of universal health plan found in Europe, Canada and South Korea.
�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,� Powell said, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal, last week at an annual �survivors celebration breakfast� in Seattle for those who, like Powell, have battled prostate cancer. �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.�
Europe, Canada and Korea all have a �single-payer� system, in which the government pays for the costs of health care.
Some Democrats who strongly advocated for, and failed to get, a single-payer system in the 2010 Affordable Care Act, still believe the current law doesn�t go far enough to reform the US health system.
A retired four-star general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 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.
�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,� Powell. �(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.�
Powell, who has taken heat from Republicans for twice endorsing President Obama�s election and reelection bids, said he hopes universal healthcare can one day become a reality in the U.S. �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.�
