By Thomas Gates, M.D.
Lancaster News (Penn.), September 13, 2018
The Sept. 10 letter “How can we afford ‘Medicare for all’?” asks the wrong question. The real question is, “How can we continue to afford our current fragmented and wasteful health care system?”
U.S. health care expenditures in 2016 were $3.3 trillion — $10,348 per capita — or 17.9 percent of gross domestic product, a far higher percentage of our income than any other country. A former administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated that up to 30 percent of U.S. health expenditures are waste, largely driven by high administrative costs of for-profit insurance companies. Total overhead for private insurance is 16.8 percent, more than four times that of Medicare and Medicaid. Our current system leaves 12.9 percent of Americans uninsured, while the insured are stuck with ever-increasing premiums, co-pays and deductibles.
The letter cites a study that puts the “Medicare for all” cost at $2.5 trillion, versus our current cost of $3.3 trillion (over half of which is already government funded). That’s $800 billion in savings: How can we afford not to adopt single payer? Yes, it would mean new taxes, but by eliminating insurance premiums, deductibles, co-pays and most out-of-pocket expenses, 95 percent of Americans would end up saving money.
Our expensive health care system makes individuals and society poorer. Single payer would be far more equitable and far less expensive. What are we waiting for?
Dr. Thomas Gates resides in Manheim Township.