Georgia’s single payer study
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
6/22/04
‘Single-payer’ Georgia health plan pushed
By Andy Miller
A proposal for a Medicare-like system that would give health insurance coverage to all Georgia residents would cut total health spending for the state by about $716 million annually, according to study released Monday by a consumer group.
The proposed, government-run “single-payer” plan would be financed by a combination of payroll taxes, increases in tobacco and alcohol taxes, a 1 percent sales tax and a tax on individuals, said Georgians for a Common Sense Health Plan, a group that promotes health coverage for all residents.
But all current payments by employers and individuals, including health insurance premiums and co-pays, would be eliminated under the consumer group’s SecureCare program. Most families earning $75,000 or less would pay less under the proposal, said Rita Valenti, a registered nurse and former state legislator who’s a founder of the Common Sense group.
The study, conducted by the Virginia-based Lewin Group, a health care consulting firm, was financed by a grant from the nonprofit Healthcare Georgia Foundation, a private organization whose mission, in part, is to expand access to affordable, quality health care.
“On paper, there’s a lot of merit to it,” said Ken Thorpe, an Emory University health policy expert and former health official in the Clinton administration. “The politics is always the thing that bottles it up. You’re moving money from the private sector to the public sector.”
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/business/0604/22insurance.html
Comment: How many more studies do we need before we act? Where is our effort to change the politics?