We have our own beloved single-payer system in this country. Its called Medicare. Single-payer advocates want Medicare for all, not just seniors. A single-payer system slashes administrative costs because profits do not have to be earned to pay shareholders. The savings are pumped into clinical services, taking care of people. A Medicare-for-all system eliminates fragmentation between agencies. This saves money. Streamlined billing also saves money, as does bulk drug purchasing. (Congress prohibits Medicare from negotiating drug prices now, a colossal triumph for drug company lobbyists but a disaster for taxpayers.) Research is not stifled in countries with national health programs. Innovations happen all the time. The Swedes just transplanted the first uterus that resulted in the delivery of a healthy baby. These countries have a financial incentive to fund research. Future solutions can save money. The Commonwealth Fund reports that the U.S. health care system is the most expensive in the world but underperforms relative to peer nations such as Canada, France, Germany, the U.K. and more. No system is perfect, but the data show that we could learn a lot from countries with universal health insurance coverage.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 15:45:46 +0000
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