Whither Singal Payer?

July 1st, 2009 by Sonny

Oxdown Gazette » American Prospect’s Public Health Plan Debate, Part I.

This is an interesting debate about the relative virtues of “strong” vs “weak” public plans and the interaction with insurance exchanges. I was in grad school for an Masters in Public Health at Emory, specifically looking at the role on insurance on the delivery of health care in the US, when the Clinton health care reform crashed and burned. I was disillusioned about how special interests (with allies on the Hill) killed it.

For once I’m not with Ezra, I’m with Kuttner, single payer is the way to go. It slices away layers of administrative bullshit directed at eliminating people who might actually use health insurance, denying claims and paying profits to stockholders. It can set global payment levels and allow providers decide how to allocate funds.

Anything else continues to allow insurance company stockholders to profit from the suffering of others. We’re the only western industrial nation that’s allows this type of looting (at great cost) while getting so much less in return. It’s national tragedy, crime and a shame all rolled into one