WDET, Detroit Today, March 22, 2022
Many in this country struggle to understand their health care plan, and feel they don’t have much agency in choosing it. The United States has a patchwork of plans that contributes to more spending on health care than any other developed nation. And yet, many influential and powerful people advocate against single-payer health care.
For many years, the American Medical Association has been that kind of institution as it helped wreck former President Harry Truman’s 1950s universal health care bill that otherwise had majority support from Americans. But in recent years, the association has been showing signs that it may be changing its tune.
Dr. Clifford Marks is an emergency-medicine resident at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. He recently wrote a piece in The New Yorker about a younger generation of doctors that are advocating for universal health care coverage.
He says younger physicians have to contest with large industries, including pharmaceutical companies, hospital systems and insurance systems, which are all difficult to navigate.
“When you have to slog through pre-authorizations, suddenly single-payer health care, I think, seems a lot more appealing,” says Marks.
Longtime PNHP member Dr. Peter Orris calls in to the program at 13:43, and a graduating fourth-year medical student named Ryan calls in to the program at 34:07.
