Underwriting is part of the problem
The Quote of the Day for October 31, 2007 was from a Modern Healthcare article, “Universal healthcare crosses the partisan divide,” which mentioned that many attendees at the meeting of the Health Industry Group Purchasing Association seemed to believe that, “Like it or not, within the next few years the U.S. is going to have a nationwide, single-payer system.” Following is a response to that article, and two responses to the response.
qotd: “Conservative businessmen sound out single payer”
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2007/october/conservative_busines.php
Why single-payer is not inevitable
Modern Healthcare
November 2, 2007
A recent article, “Universal healthcare crosses the partisan divide” argued that—like it or not—a single-payer system is inevitable in the U.S. While I wholeheartedly agree that we need to provide every American with access to quality healthcare coverage, I cannot and will not believe that it will come from a government-run model. While such a system has the potential to provide universal access to care, it would do so at the devastating cost of quality and choice.
Under a single-payer system, the government would hold a monopoly over coverage, offering a one-size-fits-all insurance plan. So when the government decides to reduce or deny funding for treatments determined to be too costly, an individual has to forgo potential life-saving treatments, or finance them out-of-pocket. This is on top of the perilous problems other countries have encountered with this system, including substandard care, long waiting lists, loss of physicians, forced outsourcing and healthcare rationing.
No one is denying the need for healthcare reform or the moral imperative of providing healthcare access to all Americans; but I absolutely disagree with the idea that we can only accomplish these things through a single-payer system. We need to consider alternative healthcare reform solutions, such as free-market reform, and just say no to single-payer.
Janet Trautwein
Chief executive officer and executive vice president
National Association of Health Underwriters
Arlington, Va.
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071102/FREE/311020008/-1/dailydialogue
Free-market approach is making care unaffordable
Modern Healthcare
November 8, 2007
In her comments “Why single-payer is not inevitable,” Janet Trautwein asserts that a single-payer system would force an individual to “forgo potential life-saving treatments, or finance them out-of-pocket.” She recommends instead free-market reform, presumably private health plans.
She has it backwards. A single-payer system would provide comprehensive benefits and would eliminate financial barriers to care. Private health plans keep their premiums competitive by reducing benefits covered and increasing out-of-pocket spending through patient cost-sharing. This free-market solution of underinsurance is making healthcare unaffordable for many.
Her support for private plans is no surprise. As chief executive officer and executive vice president of the National Association of Health Underwriters, she represents an industry that exists for the purpose of protecting private insurers from the costs of individuals who need healthcare. In sharp contrast, a single-payer system is designed to protect individuals with healthcare needs from the high costs of that care.
Under a single-payer system, the administrative waste of the health underwriters would be eliminated along with the waste of the private health plans. That would benefit us all.
Don McCanne, M.D.
San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
Senior health policy fellow
Physicians for a National Health Program
And…
In other countries, nationalized healthcare works
Regarding “Why single-payer is not inevitable:”
I have to disagree with this extremely biased opinion piece (the piece by Janet Trautwein), written by someone with a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.
Nationalized healthcare works well in industrialized countries outside the U.S. Sure, there are problems and limitations, but Britain, France and Canada have healthy economies with strong currencies. Their national healthcare programs improve the quality of life for their citizens as a whole and don’t hurt their respective standards of living. When one in seven Americans don’t have adequate health care, it’s time for a change.
Graham Moore
Supervisor
Regional access programs
Vancouver (British Columbia) Coastal Health Authority
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071108/FREE/311080010/1025/FREE
Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
Graham Moore and I already said it.