The following remarks were delivered by Dr. Young at a press conference in the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., on April 11, 2011, convened for the purpose of announcing the introduction of state Rep. Mary Flowers’ state single-payer legislation, the “Illinois Universal Health Care Act,” H.B. 311. His remarks and those of several others are available on video. A more complete account of the events in Springfield that day can be found at the Illinois Single Payer Coalition.
I have to believe that all of you enjoyed the presentations that preceded me as much as I did. They were spectacular, because not only are they speaking the truth, but they indicate the coalition that is going to make single-payer health reform happen.
We’re not there yet, but there are very important gains in this country and in this state. In Illinois, no small thanks to state Rep. Mary Flowers for her spectacular leadership in the Legislature, we are making advances, as is evident by those present here today.
In this country we have states like Vermont actually electing governors and representatives and senators who run on a single-payer program. That’s new.
Now, the basic problem is not complex or too difficult for anybody in this room to figure out. The cost of our health care system last year was – brace yourself – twenty-seven hundred billion dollars, or $2.7 trillion. To give you a comparison, at the end of World War II, we had a health system for the nation that cost $22 billion. Now we are spending more than a hundred times that much and, as has already been indicated, not doing very well at all in terms of medical outcomes.
These days, the banter is all about the cost of government and the need to cut down expenses. Much of that I think, is cynical politicking, but if you want to save money, Mr. Politician – Democrat or Republican – enact a single-payer system. You’ll immediately reduce costs and at the same moment give care to all the many tens of millions of people who are either not covered or who are covered inadequately.
I have optimism. I’ve been at this a long time, and I sense we are getting close to victory. On the other hand, I don’t think that it is going to be easy. It’s going to take a movement because the interests of private companies who profit drastically from this system are going to hold tight and they have all kinds of schemes to discredit and confuse the public.
Take for an example the very important health notion that patients should, with their doctor, toward the end of life discuss the kind of treatment they want. Do they want a lot of life-saving methods or do they want to be made comfortable? You know the issue.
This gets translated into “death panels.” The cynicism of that can’t be exaggerated, because you are dealing with people’s lives, with their elementary dignity and needs. And so it goes in the so-called debate over “government-run health insurance” and “socialized medicine” – all these words that they think the American people are automatically going to negatively react to.
I think we’re at the beginning of a new era. I hope I can check this out with all of you in a relatively short period. I think the events in Wisconsin, where the people said, “No more, that’s enough,” and “You can’t take away our elementary rights to bargain collectively or indeed to have government services,” I think that is going to be a turning point in American history. I am counting on it, but your presence here is part of that process.
We’re using our first amendment rights today to petition the Legislature for a redress of grievances. And, the health care system in Illinois is in grievous shape, and we want to change it. We want single-payer, national health insurance.
I’m thrilled to be at this podium with so many colleagues. Let me close on a very up note. I went to Northwestern also. But I’ll tell you a secret: it wasn’t in this century!
I’m proud that my colleagues at Northwestern are in the fray and are so articulate about their desire to serve the people and not be turned into cogs and money-making machines for the insurance companies.
That’s really exciting because one of the arguments used by supporters of the private health insurers in Vermont, where the people did indeed elect a governor and both houses of their Legislature on a single-payer program, was embodied in ads saying, “Doctors will flee this state if you enact this terrible thing.”
Well, I am pleased to tell you all, if you haven’t heard it already, that a week an a half ago on a Saturday, 250 medical students, wearing their white jackets, came to Montpelier, Vermont’s capital, to demonstrate for single payer now and to say they’d be happy to practice in this state if it enacts a single-payer system.
As a doctor for many years – way too many – I can tell you that it’s a conservative profession, but the good news is that the majority of physicians, not to mention medical students, now see national health insurance as the answer.
So I congratulate you all for being here as part of this movement. Somebody it before me, but I’ll reiterate: it’s going to take a movement to move this Legislature and move the Congress, but it’s going to happen. Thank you.
