INTRODUCED BY: List Sponsors (The more, the better!)
TITLE: National Health Insurance- Improved Medicare for All
WHEREAS, the number of Americans uninsured is in excess of 46.6 million and tens of millions more Americans are underinsured and growing1;
WHEREAS, physicians have a moral imperative to advocate for a healthcare system in which all Americans have guaranteed access to high quality and affordable healthcare;
WHEREAS, business is increasingly withdrawing coverage from employees1;
Whereas, the quality of practice for physicians is declining and the lack of control over the practice of medicine (e.g. reimbursements, procedures and formularies) is growing;
WHEREAS, the healthcare infrastructure is inadequate and deteriorating (e.g. reduction in number of emergency rooms2, decrease in hospital beds3 and a decline in the ability to fulfill projected physician workforce requirements4);
WHEREAS, in the new global economy, American companies are at a competitive disadvantage, in part due to health care costs;
WHEREAS, our hodgepodge healthcare system is inadequate to meet homeland security threats (e.g. natural disasters, possible flu epidemics5 and terrorist attacks);
WHEREAS, universal health insurance would guarantee payment for all patients treated;
WHEREAS, the U.S. spends twice as much per capita in healthcare costs compared to other western democracies, yet fails to include all its citizens and fails to achieve equivalent healthcare statistics (e.g. life expectancy, infant mortality and vaccination rate)3;
WHEREAS, a single source government health insurance, i.e. Medicare, would reduce the vast sums of money spent on administrative costs that could more appropriately go to direct patient care6;
WHEREAS, medical malpractice premiums would decrease because settlements would not have to cover future medical expenses of the plaintiff;
WHEREAS, universal Medicare would increase choice of doctors and portability and eliminate job lock;
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT Resolved: that the (Name of Organization) does hereby endorse and will support HR 676, United States National Health Insurance Act (or the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act), which covers all medically necessary care for every American and guarantees meaningful physician input and/or negotiating power over all aspects of medical practice and the healthcare system;
and be it further Resolved: that the (Name of Organization) does hereby commit to encourage other medical groups to adopt the same policy and work together with other medical organizations work towards bringing this to reality.
Thanks to Harvey Fernbach for introducing a similar version of this resolution to the Maryland Medical Society.
1. Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States; 2005, August 2006. Current Population Reports U.S. Census Bureau
2.”Hospital-Based Emergency Care: At the Breaking Point,” Institute of Medicine, June 14, 2006
3. Health at a Glance- OECD Indicators 2005
4. “Physician Workforce Policy Guidelines for the U.S. 2000-2020,” Council on Graduate Medical Education, July 2004
5. National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza: Implementation Plan, Homeland Security Council, May 2006
6. Woolhandler, S., Campbell, T., and Himmelstein, D. “Costs of Health Care Administration in the United States and Canada.” New England Journal of Medicine 349:768-775, 2003