Today Mitch McConnel predicted zero Republican support for health care reform so...
Congress should enact single payer health care reform rather than any of the health care reform packages currently being considered.
I. Currently proposed health care reform packages are deeply flawed because they do not offer comprehensive coverage or affordable care.
- The two bills currently in Congress (and President Obama's proposal, for that matter) lack provisions that would immediately contain rising health care costs. Karen Ignani, CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans suggests bringing all Americans into the healthcare system and ensuring people don’t lose health insurance coverage when they change or lose jobs, if they have pre-existing conditions or get divorced. (Greene, Jay. "Ignani: Lack of cost containment fatal flaw in health reform bills." crainsdetroit.com. 3 Dec. 2009.)
- The National Nurses Union cites flaws in the currently proposed health care bills: individual mandates with insufficient cost controls; no challenge to insurance company monopolies; excise tax on insurance plans will encourage employers to shift more costs to employees; major loopholes in exclusions for pre-existing conditions; minimal oversight on insurers denials of care; inadequate limits on prescription drug prices; no single standard of care. (Nichols, John. "The Nation: Nurses Knock Health Care Reform Bill." npr.org. 23 Dec. 2009.)
II. A single payer national health insurance plan would cover all Americans at a lower cost to tax payers.
- John Battista, M.D. and Justine McCabe, Ph.D say that single payer universal health care costs would be lower that the current system due to lower administrative costs. The U.S. spends at least 50% more on administration than single payer systems spend (about $400 billion/year). By lowering administrative costs, the U.S. would have the ability to provide universal health care, increase benefits and still save money. (cthealth.server101.com "The Case for Universal Health Care in the United States." 4 Jun. 1999.)
III. Single payer health care would create jobs and stimulate the economy.
- A study by The National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Organization, says enacting single payer health care would "provide a major stimulus for the U.S. economy by creating 2.6 million new jobs and infusing $317 billion in new business and public revenues into the economy. This reform would...add $100 billion in wages to the currently sputtering U.S. economy. (Nichols, John. "Single Payer Health Care would Stimulate Economy." thenation.com. 14 Jan. 2009.)