June 22— Disability advocates give leadership to movement against US health care cuts. They staged a ‘die in’ outside Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office to protest the Senate health care plan and proposed cuts to Medicaid which would cause thousands of deaths and threaten the ability of millions to live at home
LOS ANGELES (US), July 3— “The Senate bill calling for huge cuts in medical insurance is fascism in action,” said a comrade to a municipal worker at one of many protests against the efforts by Congress to gut health care in the United States. “The cuts in Medicaid in particular—which target people with disabilities—will kill thousands of people every year. It’s like how Nazi Germany sent people with disabilities—they called them ‘useless eaters’ to the gas chambers along with Jews, Roma people (‘Gypsies’) and Communists.”
“One more way that Trump’s a fascist,” answered the worker. “Attacking Muslims, immigrants, Jews, you name it. Suppressing the vote, attacking the courts and the free press. His justice department is giving the green light to the police murder of black men [like me]. We’ve got to stop him.”
“It’s not just Trump,” said the comrade. “Fascism is capitalism in crisis. The bosses have the President they need to institute the fascist cuts they need. And they literally don’t care how many people die to maintain their profits. We must get rid of capitalism and build a communist society.
“Capitalism is based on using human beings to make a profit,” continued the comrade.” “They discard workers when they are no longer a source of profits. Hence these murderous cuts in health care. Communism is based on working together—each according to their ability and commitment—to fulfill the needs of human beings.”
This started a long discussion. The comrade and the municipal worker exchanged phone numbers. Our new friend promised to read this issue of Red Flag, and the comrade promised to call him in a few days to continue the discussion.
Everyone Has Contributions to Make
Protesters with disabilities risked arrest on June 22 to protest against Trumpcare’s massive cuts to Medicaid. In effect, they were protesting the fact that capitalism makes a commodity of human life. If your disabilities keep the capitalists from making maximum profit off your labor, this system sees your life as without value.
In contrast, communism values the lives of everyone. When communists lead the masses to take power, we will immediately eliminate money, commodity production, and wages. People will no longer be forced to compete in the job market to sell their labor power.
We are learning the lessons of War Communism during the Russian Revolution and the Supply System in the Chinese Revolution. We will organize society around production and distribution of the necessities of life: food, shelter, clothing, medical care and education for everyone. Of course we will also produce the weapons we’ll need to defend and extend the revolution.
Production for need, without any kind of wage system, will require organizing social life in a much more collective way. The Party will lead the struggle for everyone to increase their commitment to the society, and to contribute all they can. People will differ in their commitment. But as we struggle to build communist relations, more people will join the Party, and we’ll learn to give our all.
Obviously, that “all” differs from one person to the next. As we build stronger social ties, we will learn to appreciate the different contributions of people who are differently abled. When we eliminate production for profit, we won’t look at each other in terms of “productivity,” “efficiency,” or “expertise.” Instead we’ll build social relationships of consideration and respect. Working together to meet the needs of society, we will be able to see how everyone can contribute. Meaningful, useful work is also a human need!
US Healthcare System: Capitalist Health Care Goes from Bad to Worse
Some may be surprised that the US has the worst healthcare system in the industrialized world. The current system, the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), is not a national health system. It does not guarantee universal coverage. (See: “Worried about attacks on Obamacare?”)
Even in countries with national health systems, capitalism always provides a two-tier health system. There is minimum care for the masses and better options for those who can afford them. With the current economic crisis, that minimum level of care has gone down drastically.
In the US, the attacks on health care are being debated in Congress as we go to press.
The main provisions of the current bill:
*22 million people will lose their medical insurance.
*Medicaid will be cut by $880 billion over ten years—a 25% cut
*The rich, drug companies, and other companies that make a profit from health care will get a tax cut of $1 trillion over that same ten years.
The harshest cuts are to Medicaid. This program began in 1965 during the Civil Rights movement. It covers half of non-elderly people with disabilities—almost 13 million people, including more than 2 million children. It provides medical coverage, long-term services and the support that helps people with disabilities live at home instead of an institution.
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