Getting serious about a single payer system

[eridani]

Getting serious about a single payer system
http://touch.baltimoresun.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-80073903/

By James F. BurdickUpdated May 1, 2014

A single payer system — where the government pays for health costs — is now recognized by many in the U.S. as the best solution for our health care problems. It was taken "off the table" in 2009 by Sen. Max Baucus, A Montana Democrat who reportedly received more money from the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries than any other Congressman. But now the flood of single payer advocacy cannot be turned off by vested business interests. It is time to progress from the stereotype of single payer to having a serious discussion about it.

Ironically, even after its recent success in covering millions more Americans, the problems with the Affordable Care Act serve to illuminate the advantages of single payer. The public, although confused by the divisive rhetoric around health care reform, is coming to realize that the complexity of the law and the pursuit of insurance company profits are major problems for the ACA. Back in 2009, a majority of Americans favored a single payer-like system. The country may now lose patience with the protracted process of ACA implementation, with Republicans yapping at its heels, until 2020 when the final provision closing the Medicare prescription drug doughnut hole fully kicks in.

The 30-page H.R. 676, the single payer bill of Rep. John Conyers Jr., a Michigan Democrat, shows how simple it is to cover everyone. It provides savings through quality care — including protection from harmful overuse and efficient, timely management of chronic disease — as well as savings through national monopsony buying power and freedom from insurance business profits.

[blkmusclmachine]

1. ,

,

[Demeter]

2. Is Baucus gone yet?

He will be gone in November, in which case Universal Single Payer has a chance...unless there's a legion of other sell-outs in line to take his place.

Obama wants to send him to China as ambassador...it is to laugh. Only a good idea if you want open warfare between us.

[brooklynite]

13. He's gone...replaced by John Walsh

And -- Single Payer is as unlikely to be implemented today as it was in 2009.

[Laelth]

3. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[Flatulo]

4. How criminal it is that one person can usurp the will of tens or hundreds of millions of people.

[Enthusiast]

5. It might not be technically illegal but it sure ain't a bit nice.

Max Baucus is not a nice person. And he takes bribes.

[Flatulo]

9. Oh, I know - I meant in the moral sense, not the legal. With very few exceptions,

these folks go to Washington with a For Sale sign on their backs.

[Doctor_J]

6. unfortunately the president disagrees

"Insurance companies deserve to make a profit. Your friends and family members depend on those jobs." It's not ALL Baucus's fault. It's all of the dinos, and of course the corrupt republicans

[IronLionZion]

7. Canada got it one province at a time

if you really want to get serious about single payer, do it at the state level.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_health_care_reform

[Doctor_J]

8. They never locked the for-profits into a half trillion dollar per year guarantee

Big Insurance raking in 20% of our health "care" money is now the law of the land. They will never, ever let that go. The comparison to Canada is a canard to hide the abject failure of the 2009-2010 Congress. Medicare was implemented, nationwide, in less than two years, starting from nothing. The British NHS was implemented in 3 years, starting from nothing.

[IronLionZion]

15. Someone is getting something they don't deserve

Corporations are getting money they don't deserve. GOP says people are getting benefits they don't deserve. Why do you care what someone else gets?

Nonprofit insurance co-ops and Medicaid/Medicare exist. The nonprofits compete with the for profits and have proven very popular in some states. There are taxes on expensive insurance plans, medical devices, and tanning, amongst other stuff including capital gains and dividends. Conservatives whine about that all the time.

Medical care was significantly simpler and cheaper when programs like Medicare and NHS were started.

[Doctor_J]

16. Doing nothing in 2009 would have led to SP much faster

Now the for-profit model has been codified for all 330 million of us. It was be nearly impossible to undo. Even the BOG says we are "two generations" from real health care. I don't care how much simpler it was in 1965, it shouldn't take 50 years for people to get HC as a right. In the mean time, working stiffs like me have seen their employer-provided plans increase by a factor of 15, just because we're the ones who are going to fork over Big Insurance's 500 billion dollar profits this year.

Why do I care that Big Insurance is getting 500 billion dollars for providing absolutely nothing except

1. Impediments to health care
2. Millions in bribes to congress and the president?

I take it this is a rhetorical question. They are getting, by law, half a trillion dollars that should be used for health care. Even the most deluded BOGer can spot this one.

[IronLionZion]

17. Do you know how many times single payer was attempted in our country?

going back to Teddy Roosevelt, Truman, and others. Why hasn't it happened long ago? I disagree that doing nothing in 2009 would have led to SP faster.

I actually believe 80% of those billions of dollars will be going to health care providers, which will lead to more providers. Americans need health care. America needs many more providers. More are opening up directly because of the PPACA. There just aren't many ways to fund this in our political climate.

Don't forget the patient protection part of the PPACA. There are lots of new regulations over the insurance industry.

And why ignore the nonprofit co-ops and medicaid/medicare? Who's getting rich off this?

[eridani]

12. Agreed. US states are much more like Canadian provinces than like any European--

--political subdivisions. Check the following link for opportunities in states other than Vermont. http://www.pnhp.org/stateactions

[Dirty Socialist]

10. I Think

A single payer health care system should be coupled with a heavily subsidized Higher Education system. Students don't want to become doctors because of the high tuition bills.

[me b zola]

11. K&R

[Adrahil]

14. I'd like to see it. But I think we're 10 years away from it. NT