Walter Reuther, 1968:

“We must first free ourselves of the illusion that we really have a health care system in America. What we have is a disorganized, disjointed, antiquated, obsolete non-system of health care. Consumers are being required to subsidize a non-system that fails to deal with their basic health care needs and the cost of that system is continuing to skyrocket.”

 
Talk about being ahead of one’s time!

The confusion re:  Medicare D(isaster), is being recognized.  Also, the costs of health care today are a serious problem for business and individuals alike.  

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Examples of how some states have addressed this folow.

  •  This past November, in Oklahoma the Employer/Employee Partnership for Insurance Coverage was approved.  It is a statewide insurance program for businesses w/less tham 25 employees. Oklahoma picks up 60 percent of an employee’s premium, the employer pays 25 percent, and the employee pays the remaining 15 percent.
  •  In Illinois the All Kids plan will provide health-care coverage to uninsured children of working parents.
  •  In Massachusetts, the state legislature, is debating whether to require residents to carry health-care coverage via an employer, the government or a self-funded policy, with low-income individuals qualifying for a subsidy.   Also being debated is the possibility of  tax breaks for employers who provide health insurance.
  •  Maryland has legislation that requires large employers to spend at least 8% of their payroll on health care.  The theory behind this is to place less of a burden on the Medicaid system.

However, these three examples appear to rely on the assumption that the state in question has a healthy economy, as the emphasis is on those who are employed, as opposed to those who are unable to work for medical reasons.  And the fact of the matter is that there are many who meet that description.  That has not been adequately addressed, despite the fact that a single payer health care system that covers all will benefit both business and the individual alike.

Small business is at an extreme competitive disadvantage when compared to larger firms because a smaller company has fewer monetary resources to purchase health insurance.  As a result, employees of these companies don’t have the same benefits as employees at larger companies.

Relieving companies of this expense at the national level will relieve these companies of a huge expense.  A single-payer health system is more efficient than the myriad number of interweaving policies the US currently has.  The Federal government’s massive size would allow them to negotiate aggressively with service providers to lower and contain costs.  It would allow companies to free up money they pay in benefits to their respective bottom line.  In short, national single-payer is a net win for business and employees.

Points to consider:

  •  Today, the health care system in this country is the world’s most expensive: the United States spent $1.9 trillion on health in 2004.
  •  More public money is spent on health care than most people realize–40m elderly and disabled Americans have Medicare and 38m poor are covered by Medicaid.  Some people are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid. (With the economy/job market in the shape that it is in today, the figure for Medicaid may be higher.)
  •  Include the coverage offered to vets, and the public sector pays for 45% of American health care. (The  total is closer to 60% if tax subsidies are included.)
  •  46 million people have no insurance–instead, they receive what little medical treatment is available by going to a hospital emergency room.  This results in higher costs for health care.

Some  myths and facts re:  a single payer health care system:

*  A person will have to wait longer for medical treatment.

Redirecting money we are already spending from overhead to direct services should mean wait times here will be shorter or even nonexistent.

*  The cost of a single payer health care system will be higher.

Ford, General Motors and DaimlerChrysler endorse Canada’s single-payer system because it saves them nearly $1,400 per vehicle, compared to the United States.

 And,

Overhead for Medicare is significantly less than the overhead and profits for private insurance companies, which take out 13 cents to 30 cents of every health dollar.

*  With a single payer system, the government will tell doctors how to practice medicine.

As the single payer, government will just pay the bills.

Finally, people are willing to pay more taxes for a single payer health care system.  Yet, the democrats in DC do not appear to be listening.  Instead, more attention is being paid to the rx lobbying which results in horrendous legislation, specifically, Medicare D(isaster).