Time for Single Payer (Feedback)

Two of our readers take on national health care and what Americans can – and can't – live without. TO THE EDITOR: Forty-five thousand people die per year in the United States because even basic and preventive care is unavailable to many. Our national health indicators (lifespan, infant mortality, maternal mortality) rank with Third World countries rather than industrialized democracies. In Canada, whose population and socio-economic structure is similar to the U.S., a single payer, the government, pays the bills while patients choose among providers of medical services, most of them in private practice. Everyone is covered, regardless of income, age, employment status or pre-existing condition. No one loses insurance if they lose their job or relocate across the country. Any waits in line are for elective medical services like plastic surgery rather than required, preventive or emergency care. A single-payer system reduces administrative costs. Canada’s system has a 1 percent overhead. The U.S. Medicare system overhead is less than 4 percent. However, the for-profit HMO administrative cost is more than 20 percent overhead because of paperwork, billing and CEO salaries. Medicare, Medicaid, government employees (including congressmen), military, subsidies to providers, etc. are already tax-supported. And Medicaid expansion in Arkansas fills some gaps. However, payroll taxes for single-payer health care are offset by the elimination of insurance premiums, deduc...
Source: Arkansas Business - Health Care - Category: American Health Source Type: news