CQ TODAY PRINT EDITION
– HEALTH
Corrected Jan. 29, 2009 – 2:04 p.m.
Liberal Groups Seek Single-Payer Health Care Bill
By Alex Wayne, CQ Staff
A coalition of liberal advocacy groups and labor unions is trying to breathe new life into the idea of a European-style “single-payer” health system in the United States, a concept thought discredited after the collapse of President Bill Clinton’s attempt at overhauling the health care system.
The groups announced Wednesday the launch of a lobbying campaign to build support for a health care overhaul that would expand Medicare, the health entitlement for the elderly, to cover everyone and act as the “single payer,” putting health insurance companies out of business.
After a conference call with reporters to outline their plans, the groups held a briefing for about 45 Democratic congressional aides to discuss “Medicare-for-all” legislation and research that predicts economic benefits from a nationwide expansion.
“We cannot rely on private health insurance any longer because of its waste and its greed,” said Dr. Robert Zarr, co-chairman of the Washington chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program.
Several senior Democrats, led by House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers Jr. of Michigan, have long supported a single-payer system. Rep. John D. Dingell , D-Mich., introduces a bill in every Congress that would expand Medicare to cover all Americans. But the proposals have never been seriously debated, not even after Democrats reclaimed Congress in 2006.
Since the failure of Clinton’s 1994 plan — which was enormously more complex than simply expanding Medicare — the idea has been considered a dead end. Many Democrats have concluded that any serious health overhaul must involve private insurers, a powerful lobby in Washington that was instrumental in defeating Clinton’s plan. President Obama, who made overhauling health care a major piece of his campaign, has said that any changes should allow people who have private insurance to keep their coverage if they choose.
“There have been numerous studies that have been done which show the American people prefer a private-public approach to health care reform,” said Robert Zirkelbach, spokesman for America’s Health Insurance Plans, which represents the industry. “All the proposals that are getting serious consideration on Capitol Hill include a public-private approach to health care reform.”
The new coalition, which calls itself the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care, thinks “Medicare for all” should get its own consideration. It is backing legislation Conyers introduced in the 110th Congress that would expand Medicare to everyone and would prohibit private insurance companies from competing with the program. Groups in the coalition claim to represent more than 20 million people, including many doctors and nurses.
A $63 Billion Question
Members of the coalition presented results of a study by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, a labor union, that predicts that expanding Medicare to cover everyone would lead to 2.6 million new jobs, $317 billion in new business and public revenue, and $44 billion in new tax revenue. The expansion would cost $63 billion a year, on top of the more than $2 trillion the United States already spends on health care.
While acknowledging that any expansion of insurance for the estimated 46 million uninsured would have some economic benefits, Charles Idelson, communications director for the nurses’ union, said the key driver for jobs and economic growth is for them to actually get health care.
“If all you’re doing is requiring people to buy insurance,” he said, “that doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily go out and buy it and get the care.”
The coalition’s spokespeople would not say during the conference call that they would oppose other Democratic plans, such as Obama’s plan or expected legislation by Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus , D-Mont. Donna Smith, a Washington-based community organizer for the nurses union, said the coalition is realistic.
“I think we have a tough, tough fight ahead,” she said. But the foundering economy and the government’s unprecedented actions in the last year to avoid further financial collapse open the door to all sorts of policy proposals, she says.
“It’s a different world today. I don’t think you can count out any kind of reform.”
First posted Jan. 28, 2009 6:16 p.m.
Correction
Corrects the name of the new coalition to Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care.
Comments
I don't know how single payer health care can be "discredited" when it has never been tried in this country yet. As I recall it, current Secretary of State and then First Lady Hillary Clinton's plan was not single payer and was not enacted because of politics and poor timing. I think a Single Payer type health insurance program in the U.S.A. would be great and along with public financing of campaigns and repeal of Prop 13 in California where I live would really get our country going in a positive direction.
I will be deeply disappointed if Obama squanders his mandate by capitulating to the insurance industry. To say, "No, we can't" to single-payer, he will send a devastating message of weakness to the entire country and completely undermine his message of hope.
Liberal groups??? You don't get 65% of the US population supporting a government paid program run by Doctors with only "liberals". Please adjust your story to reflect that fact. Republicans for single payer: http://republicansforsinglepayer.com/ http://news.yahoo.com/page/election-2008-political-pulse-voter-worries-highlights "Sixty-five percent of those polled said the United States should adopt universal health insurance that covers everyone under a program such as Medicare that is run by the government and financed by taxpayers." Fact: Medicare is single payer. If the media is not going to speak for us than you may as well just shoot us all now.
Excellent! This is the best thing possible for the American people and American business. The length and quality of a person's life should not be subject to "market forces," especially not in a country as rich as ours. And our companies shouldn't be burdened with paying for health insurance for employees and retirees, which puts them at a huge disadvantage when competing against businesses in other countries. Let's get this done!
I am on medicare and it leaves a nice big chunk to placate the insurance companies. So that I wouldnt have to buy medigap insurance to pay the [what is it %40] that medicare doesnt pay, i had to sign up for a HMO which is basically an insurance company.
Have any of you ever lived in both a country with socialized medicine and one without it? I have. If you love good healthcare, fight against nationalized medicine. How would you like end of life decisions being made by legislatures instead of patients? It's cheaper to abort peroblem pregnancies than to supply quality aid, so the government hospitals and doctors will encourage people with difficult preganancies to abort rather than chose more expensive options, if there plan even allows them to chose more expensive options. Every one of my 3 children would have been aborted if we took the advice of doctors here. And here's real kicker - with socialized medicine, you still have to pay for insurance; only now it's a crime if you don't make the payments. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Your income and sales taxes will go up, and you will have a mandatory government insurance plan payment added on top of that. Please America, don't go the way of Europe and Israel.
When are we going to join teh civilized world? The rest of the world thinks that we are enormously stupid. I have been treated (under natl heatlh plans) in Italy, Denmark and Canada. It works. We just need to pass HR 676-now. Even that is a half-measure to nationalized care. Why do you think the big auto industries went bankturupts, among other things? Those that say it wouldnt work simply dont know what they are takling about---or they have finanaical interest. 20,000 die a year---more than in Iraq (WE THINK!).
Americans have been conned, ripped off and oppressed by insurance companies' lobbying for too long (and drug companies but that is another subject). Time to catch up with the rest of the civilized world in taking care of it's people's basic needs with a single payer system. Compared with the rest of the modern world, this country is extremely HARSH - there is no safety net, no basic health care, a pathetic minimum wage and vacations etc. You can tell yourself "we are #1" and the "freeist" country on the planet but it simply isn't true. More than half of all bankruptcies are due to medical expenses and these people have insurance (paper umbrella). http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6895896/ More than half of all GP doctors want to quit because of the paperwork they have to submit to insurance companies. http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/17/primary.care.doctors.study/ What is really scary though is the epidemic of preventable illness in this country which no system can solve - private insurance or single payer. Indeed it will bankrupt any system in the future is not corrected. Millions of people deliberately and unnecessarily lead incredibly unhealthy lifestyles, consuming sugar, processed food, smoking etc. e.g. Epidemic of obesity and diabetes http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080708193249.htm The method of medicine in this or any country needs to be seriously re-evaluated but while we have drug companies dominating the very schools where medicine is taught that is difficult. For now, there should be continued and more vigorous education on preventative medicine, safety, & a responsible and healthy lifestyle.
I see the usual blind cheerleading of socialist in the comments. This would be a disaster, just as it is everywhere else it is tried. Medicare is already heading for bankruptcy and is slated to leave an unfunded liability of $30 TRILLION for my generation over the next half century or so. It's funny, while many of the left are quick to point to European health care models (while ignoring their money faults and problems), they rarely look at the details of what actually works, and why. For instance, France succeeds because they rely heavily on an unregulated private insurance market, while our costs are through the roof because of extensive and wasteful government mandates which prevent insurance carriers from tailoring proposals for what customers actually need.
Why should private insurance be prohibited from competing with "medicare for all" coverage? Is it because private insurance would be better and outcompete the government model? If these people actual believe what they spout, they shouldn't be afraid of competition.
The problem with healthcare is that the system's reimbursements do not cover expenses. Medicaid reimburses only about 70% of hospital and physician expenses for care. In many areas, it is nearly impossible to find physicians willing to accept Medicaid patients. Medicaid patients must seek care at emergency rooms, where fewer and fewer physicians are willing to provide services, due to state rules that prevent physicians from billing for their services and allowing government and private insurers to reimburse at whatever level they wish. In many states, Medicaid payments are delayed months, if they are paid at all. Dozens of emergency rooms close every year because of this. Adding more people to the Medicaid dole strains the system further -- it does not improve it. Further, the VA's outstanding electronic medical record system has been available for years -- for free (WorldVistA). A bill to foster the adoption of VistA across the US has been sitting in Congress since 2005. Throwing more money at big software giants, who have spent years jockeying for position (and federal money) and in effect preventing the standardization of electronic health records in this country, is exactly the wrong thing to do. Clearly this administration doesn't get it either. We need a two-tier health system: 1) a national provider network (of state, county and rural hospitals, clinics, and physicians) that enjoys the financial and operational support of the government and 2) a private provider network of private hospitals, clinics and physicians who are free to do whatever they want (including charging whatever rates they need to to cover their costs). Until we have this, throwing more money down the drain is ridiculous.
In reply to Brian Garst: Health insurance companies were once nonprofit companies. If would return to that model, I would think they would be a good addition to any universal health care system. When healthcare insurance companies became for-profit companies, they made their money by providing less healthcare and by increasing premiums, copays, deductibles. Eventually, by creating inequalities in services to enough people and by pitching their product to a smaller and smaller group of 'healthy' people, they have become a very destructive force in our society. We may have future nonprofit private insurance for those who choose it, but I doubt that for-profit insurance companies will survive.
While I think that National Universal Single Payer Healthcare is the way to go, and what I hope we as a country can implement, I feel that more than likely the Single Payer Solution will have to be implement at a STATE level first, so that law makers will have the political cover / benefit of pointing to a working single payer model before passing national legislation. Pennsylvania is absolutely leading the way in this arena. Healthcare for All Pennsylvania (http://hfap.camp7.org and www.healthcare4allpa.org) led by former senate candidate Chuck Pennacchio, PhD, has PA HB 1660 and PA SB 300 in the legislature. Hearings have been held in the House HHS committee. The group is lobbying hard, gaining grassroots momentum (8k members / petition signers and counting). Check out the sites listed above (http://hfap.camp7.org and www.healthcare4allpa.org) to learn more about the state-based effort and how PA can be a model for national single payer healthcare (whereby caring for US citizens is ensured, not insured)
Does "Brian Garst" work for the insurance industry? or is "Brian" just a conserva-libertarian dittohead? OOOOOOOH scary socialism bogey man!!!!!! It's been proven that government mandates don't make our system expensive; rather, it's the drive for profit and market share by insurance and drug companies!
Some of the posters on this blog seem to forget that we live in a capitalistic society. That is the foundation of our country. It has always been the belief that the free market has the best solutions and not the government. If we are truly honest and look at the vast majority of government programs you will find them bloated and full of waste. Look at medicare. It is difficult for doctors to even pay their costs while accepting medicare payments. Most of the economic problems we are facing today are rooted in government interference in the free market. Who pays for these government programs? It is me and the other people that have chosen to advance themselves. Many of the supporters of these expanded programs are the people that have not but forth the full effort needed to be able to pay for these things themselves. That means they want me to pay, but use the expression "the Government". It is a sad time for this country when one segment of the population can "vote" to take away the money of another.
Gerard is so stuck in his dogma that he can't see medicare for all is the humane way. Why compete to make a buck off peoples' sickness.
Gerard, that's a tough sell after the banking debacle which was pure free market. I'm sure many of the bank ececs share your approach by choosing to advance themselves!
There is no reason that Medicare is going bankrupt. Everyone who works pays into it, plus there is the $98 premium, the supplemental premium of $117, plus the drug plan premium of $39 a month. Premiums for two would be $550 a month. Some states have a lot higher premiums for Medicare plans so that takes care of the higher cost states. The government reimburses the insurance plans for costs they won't pay for Medicare and why are they helping them make such high Profits? This is being done by capitalists who want to destroy Medicare so they can rip the elderly even more. They figure Medicare costs to infinity and then say we can't afford it. It is a trick, don't fall for it.
We are in a healthcare crisis! Unless you have suffered the trauma of Health Ins Co's practicing medicine on you, or a loved one, then you will never appreciate the problem! People are dying every day at the hands of this "for profit" industry! Why on earth is the US the only civilized country on the planet that is so in the dark? People are in slavery to their employers for the security of so called health insurance. Just need it and see how well it works! If you are lucky and know how to fight, you might live! Wake Up! http://jointeffort.wordpress.com
Jim, what country did you live in with nationalized health care? By the scientific numbers every industrialized nation with national health care lives longer, has less preventable disease, and lower child mortality. Oh and did I mention that medicare has a fraction of the overhead costs that private insurance does. And yes I would rather have my elected democratic legislature make determinations about health care choices than a faceless bean counter for the thieves at the private insurance companies. You claim to have used health care in other countries, have you ever had insurance here? noone I know ever says 'wow my health insurance took great care of me', I have good insurance and still pay hundreds out of pocket to the Dr. and the Dentist. Gerard get over it, George W. Bush was a bigger socialist than FDR or Hugo Chavez by nationalizing the mortgage and insurance industries. We are not a capitalist society, the only growth in jobs in the last 8 years has been in the government. Brian Garst, if you and your ilk had made a peep about W's 6 years of "supplemental emergency funding" for the illegal Iraq war you might have some fiscal credibility now, but you don't so STFU.
Here are some short video clips exposing the nature of our healthcare system. The BBC Panorama investigative news program assessed our healthcare system. It is about one-half hour long and can be viewed at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/front_page/newsid_7854000/7854496.stm. The 4 part Signature Series (each clip about 6 minutes) airing on the PBS news program World Focus compares healthcare systems and can be viewed at: http://worldfocus.org/blog/tag/health-of-nations/.
Its time for this. Its the right thing to do!! We need national plans for Home and Auto also. If my car is paid for I shouldnt need Insurance. In order for Lawyers to run TV Ads about suing me if im the guy at fault. Also The medical part of Auto insurance is 50-60% of the premiums. Insurances Costs are eating up 25% of Disposable Incomes on average. We pay for this now in many different forms, streamline it and get it done!! Its just about being fair to people instead of corporate america. So Doctors will only own 1 million dollar home instead of 3. I live for the day i see this, but may not since I dont have medcal Insurance!! :)
nationalized health care will bring down the quality of care in the US. Family members of mine live in a country with government sponsored heallth care. It may work if you are a healthy person, no mental health issue, no genitic issues, etc. My cousin died due to non trreatment of a brain tumor, he was too "at risk" he was 28 years old; my aunt fell and broke her hip.....9 months later she rec'd surgery to fix her hip, all the while lying in an under staffed hospital, my uncle died of throat cancer...refused treatment because he was a smoker, another uncle had a heart attack this past Christmas......he was sent to a hospital for observation without running any tests to verify that he had indeed had a heart attack....they waited for 10 days before any testing, they did not even do a routine EKG (to see if he would survive the next few days because of his age.) So for all of you who want this type of health care system, let's pray you all stay healthy and young and do not develope any major medical issues.
It's time for single payer universal healthj care. There is no free lunch and there shouldn't be We already pay for it (are taxed) via outrageous for profit health insurance premimums and the farcical employer based health care insurance. Employers don't pay for health insurance, they pass the cost onto consumers. We pay (are taxed). Our taxes go to support a useless insurance company bureaucracy instead of reliable, fair and universal health care. Sure there will be insurance people put out of work but the jobs they have should never have existed in the first place. General Motors would not be in as much trouble if they had listened to Walter Reuther who long ago proposed single payer. General Motors said it was socialism, and declined. Recently, GM's fear of socialism with respect to government handouts has vanished. We hear our congress people (insurance company lackies) say over and over that Americans are not ready for single payer. Bull.. I don't hear Medicare recipients complaining. They don't call Social Security and Medicare the third rail of politics for nothing. There is no free lunch, we all pay and it's time, it's cheaper, and more direct to pay the already imposed taxes to a universal health care system that's fair and covers everyone. Health care is not for profit, its a basic human right. You can further help by urging your senators to lower the cloture vote from 60 to 55 or even 52. It will be difficult because Republicans have 41 votes to block lowering the cloture vote but any healthcare reform, is DOA at the Senate if Republicans are allowed to block every bit of progressive legislation that comes to the senate floor. Write your Senator.
SAY NO TO HR 676 WHY! Actually H.R. 676 has been around since the 1940's. Back then it was called the Prepaid Group Practice System. Subscribers were (NYC workers about 750,000) had their health covered with no-copays and no-deductibles FULL COVERAGE and free drugs added in the late 1960's. Since H.R. 676 has already been tried in New York City and shown to be wanting. HIP of New Jersey-Failed, HIP of Florida Failed and now HIP was forced to merge with GHI. Example: HIP of NY started in 1947 and by the early 1960's so many complaints from the rank and file union people were received that the City of New York requested that the Group Health Insurance plan to be included as a choice for all city workers. The biggest complaint about HIP (HR676) was to many people had to wait up to three months for an annual checkup. This is one of many reasons why we cannot repeat the same errors again. NOTE: Medicare now is a comprehensive health system and most members do not want to be forced to join an HMO. They represent one of the largest voting bock you do not want to anger. A great many Labor Union jobs would also be lost, estimated in the ten's of thousands in today economy that is unacceptable. No co-pays and no deductibles always lead to abuses and over utilization of services and longer wait times. A limit of say $5.00 co-pay or deductible should be enough to lower some abuses. I believe we can move forward in small steps. Because of the condition of the economy we must find ways that won't cost the taxpayer any additional tax burden and save jobs. NOTE: We need Universal Health Care without having massive layoffs (est. 500,000+), which is covered on Page 20 of HR 676. Our current economic concerns which include the national debt, Social Security, corporate debt, mortgage debt and falling house prices. We cannot afford HR 676 to add to our current massive unemployment. Currently only one group of physicians (17,000) support HR 676 what about all the other doctors? What if 80% of Physicians don't join and we start seeing $150 dollar per office visit. That could be real possibility; I hope I'm wrong. We can't force doctors to join. To my fellow Democrat's: Please do not embarrass President Obama by forcing him with the first VETO of his presidency. In an interview Obama said HR 676 is the following "I'm not saying everything about HR 676 is bad, but the FUNDING MECHANISM IS FATALLY FLAWED" In this same interview "Obama says no one should be forced to sign up for insurance" This is why we all should support Barack Obama's Plan for a Healthy America. SAY NO TO HR 676
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