Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report
March 28, 2002
The United States should replace the nation’s “broken” health care system with a single-payer system that would provide universal health coverage, syndicated columnist Molly Ivins writes in… (a syndicated) opinion piece. Ivins writes that although the U.S. health care system “works” for individuals with health insurance, for the uninsured, the “system is an insane nightmare.” Since the failure of former President Clinton’s national health care plan in 1994, lawmakers “have been trying to move the ball incrementally” on legislation to help the uninsured, Ivins writes. However, she says that the U.S. health care “system is moving faster than they can move to fix it. A patients’ bill of rights is not the answer. It won’t provide health insurance for a single additional individual.” Ivins recommends that the United States should move to a not-for-profit health care system. She backs a plan proposed by Dr. Rudolph Mueller in his new book, “As Sick As It Gets: The Shocking Reality of America’s HealthCare,” which would allow the federal government to conduct a “one-time fair buyout” of “all for-profit or investor-owned provider and insurance organizations.” Ivins concludes, “Every time we start to get serious about reform, the right wing starts screaming, ‘Socialized medicine, socialized medicine.’ And then we’re all supposed to run, screaming with horror. But if you want to see horror in action, try the emergency room of any large public hospital in this country” (Ivins, Tallahassee Democrat, 3/27).
The full article, released on March 26, is available at the Creators Syndicate: