Editorial opinions support challenge of Physicians' Proposal
Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2003 10:23:15 -0700
Last week, the publication of the physicians’ proposal for single-payer national health insurance in The Journal of the American Medical Association(JAMA) was extensively covered by the media. A JAMA editorial called for a resumption of the debate on reform, specifically to either support this proposal or come up with something better. This week, the anticipated editorial and op-ed responses are appearing. Today’s Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report provides a selection of these. The message that the nation must support this model or find something better has clearly resonated with editorial boards and op-ed writers.
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report
August 20, 2003
Editorials, Opinion Pieces Examine Debate Over Single-Payer Health System
Several recent editorials and opinion pieces have examined a proposal introduced last week by the Physicians for a National Health Program under
which the federal government would become the single payer for health insurance in the United States to provide universal coverage for U.S. residents. Under the proposal, the government would cover the cost of health insurance for U.S. residents, but delivery of health care in large part would remain under private control (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report,8/15). Summaries of the editorials and opinion pieces appear below.
Editorials
Asbury Park Press: Although the single-payer system proposed by the physicians “may not be the solution,” a “new approach is needed,” a Press editorial states. The managed care system, which was promoted in the early 1990s as a solution to rising health care costs and diminishing patient choices, “failed to deliver,” the Press writes. The editorial concludes, “The system is sick. … It’s time for Congress to look for another cure”(Asbury Park Press, 8/17).
Daytona Beach News-Journal: The attempt of the Clinton administration to
enact a universal coverage plan in the early 1990s will provide “valuable
guidance for the next attempt” at covering all U.S. residents, a News-Journal editorial states. At that time, doctors, the insurance industry and lawmakers “spent most of their energy picking at details,” and the proposal’s failure was a “death of a thousand cuts, most of them inflicted by … friends of universal coverage,” the editorial states. According to the News-Journal, before “delving into the details” of the structure of universal coverage, supporters of such a system should “build a strong coalition” and then develop a “national consensus supporting every American’s right to health care.” The editorial concludes, “Without that foundation, the next attempt is likely to dissolve into another circular firing squad” (Daytona Beach News-Journal, 8/18).
Des Moines Register: The nation’s current health care system “doesn’t work
optimally for anyone,” a Register editorial states. According to the Register, U.S. residents are paying higher insurance premiums, employers are paying more to provide coverage to employees and 41 million people do not have health insurance, with “millions more underinsured.” The editorial concludes, “Leaving one-sixth of the country’s residents without access to health care is wrong. Now, a group of doctors thinks so, too” (Des Moines Register, 8/20).
Newark Star-Ledger: It is “time to renew the debate about creating a national health insurance plan,” a Star-Ledger editorial states, adding that the Clinton administration’s effort to establish a national health care program “failed to deliver” and “seemed to sap our national will” to create a universal care system. Still, “chronic failings and frustrations” with the nation’s current health care system affect patients, doctors, employers and lawmakers, the Star-Ledger writes. The editorial concludes, “That is why this nation … must regain faith in its ability to design a national health care program that works” (Newark Star-Ledger, 8/18).
Raleigh News & Observer: The physicians’ proposal is a “good start,” a News & Observer editorial states. Although “[s]uch a sweeping step would deserve vigorous debate,” the proposal’s “basic principles are sound,” according to the News & Observer. The editorial contends, “Comprehensive health care is something to which Americans should be entitled,” adding, “The 8,000 doctors and medical students who endorse universal health coverage for Americans uphold the best traditions of their care-giving profession” (Raleigh News & Observer, 8/18).
Tennessean: The physicians “may not have the ideal proposal for health care,
but it certainly has issued a challenge to the Bush administration, presidential contenders and members of Congress,” according to a Tennessean editorial. Opponents of the proposal “must acknowledge” that over the”decade of silence on health care,” health care costs have increased,the number of uninsured individuals has increased and racial disparities in health care have “become more pronounced,” the editorial states(Tennessean,8/18).
Opinion Pieces
Dr. Murray Katz, Arizona Daily Star: Medicaid, which since 1965 has”expanded to cover needs no other program could,” is the only federal program that has the “capacity to morph into national health insurance,” Katz, a professor internal medicine and physiology at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, writes in a Daily Star opinion piece. He concludes that “we’ll be richer once all our fellow citizens have equal access to health care, and we can join the world as the last nation to do what is sensible and right” (Katz, Arizona Daily Star, 8/16). (Don’s comment:Although, because of chronic underfunding of the Medicaid program,some would cringe at the suggestion that Medicaid be used as a model for reform, Dr. Katz’s point is that Medicaid provides truly comprehensive benefits and is administered on the state level, both goals of a single payer system.)
Myriam Marquez, Orlando Sentinel: Public health care systems “aren’t perfect,” but the United States under a private health care system “spends more than twice as much on health care services than … all other developed nations” and has “tens of millions of uninsured” residents, Marquez, a Sentinel columnist, writes in an opinion piece. “The GOP philosophy that government can do little right and that business can do little wrong” will not lead to a “substantive” proposal to reduce health care costs or expand health insurance, Marquez writes (Marquez, Orlando Sentinel, 8/17).
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_hpolicy.cfm#19461