By Tom Linnell, EdD
The Coloradoan
January 9, 2008
I am starting to see why all of us – liberals, conservatives and independents – might really like single-payer health insurance.
No, I am not joking.
Here are some principles that I believe most of us can agree on: (one) the least possible amount of government involvement in our lives, (two) efficient delivery of services and, (three) freedom of choice for individuals.
Single-payer health insurance offers the best value on all three of those principles. It really does.
Here’s why:
First, in a single-payer plan, the role of the government would be extremely minimal. It would consist of collecting health insurance premiums through the income tax mechanism and turning it over to a publicly owned and managed agency to reimburse health-care providers.
Second, single-payer plans are models of efficiency. Medicare, a successful single-payer plan, runs on 3 percent overhead. Private insurance companies hit close to 20 percent overhead, and by the time doctors hire extra staff to manage the paperwork, the total overhead runs to 30 percent.
Third, single-payer systems guarantee freedom of choice. You and I could see any doctor we would like. In the current “market-based” system, our choices are severely limited. Our insurance plan administrators tell us what doctors we can see and what hospitals we can use.
There is another feature of single-payer plans to like even more.
A single-payer plan will save money.
Save!? You might not believe me. I have proof.
The Colorado Legislature is about to hear from its 208 Commission that has spent two years studying health-care reform in Colorado and developing a range of proposals. The commission farmed out the top five proposals to The Lewin Group for a nonpartisan analysis. The results can be viewed at www.colorado.gov/208commission.
One of the proposals that the 208 Commission selected for study was a single-payer proposal. That proposal could cover everyone in the state and produce a savings estimated at $1.4 billion a year.
That’s not rumor or exaggeration. And I really meant billion.
The other four proposals considered by the 208 Commission, unfortunately, would leave tens of thousands of citizens still uninsured and cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars more than we currently spend.
It is not rocket science to appreciate the difference.
What’s next? As always: think, study, ask questions.
The 208 Commission will present its recommendations to the Legislature on Jan. 31.
Our legislators will hold hearings, meet in committees and listen to any of us who want them to know what we think.
You might want to know what your neighbors think, first.
An Associated Press-Yahoo Poll (Dec.14-20, 2007) found that 65 percent of Americans agreed with the statement, “The United States should adopt a universal health insurance program in which everyone is covered under a program like Medicare that is run by the government and financed by the taxpayers.”
Only 34 percent agreed with keeping the current system.
So, if you have begun to think single-payer plans make sense, you may now count yourself among the majority of Americans.
For more information, go to www.healthcareforallcolorado.org.
Tom Linnell, EdD, lives in Fort Collins.