Even with all of the stars seeming to be aligned, it is going to be a difficult process to get single payer passed in Vermont. The forces who oppose this, primarily the corporations who profit from the status quo, will be putting tremendous resources into that state to stop single payer. For that reason, many of the organizations that support single payer are working to assist the state single payer movement. Single payer advocates from across the nation are volunteering or helping to raise funds for Vermont.
I encourage your readers to visit www.vermontforsinglepayer.org to learn more about the efforts there and to support them.
Legislation will also be introduced at the national level again in both the House and Senate this year. It is important to work at both the state and national levels because we cannot predict where we will be successful first. Of course, the ultimate goal is a national single payer health program so that all people living in our country will have access to care and so that we can control our health care costs at the national level. Health care costs are a significant cause of our national debt.
Agreed. Tell us about the national deficit and the commission and efforts to cut social insurances like Medicare and Medicaid. How does that fit into the mix?
You are probably aware that the President appointed a commission to look at our national deficit last April. This commission, the National Commission for Fiscal Responsibility and Refom, was composed of 18 people, 14 of whom were fiscal hawks. The commission received support and staff from the Pete Peterson Foundation which has advocated for cuts to our social insurance programs for decades. It was interesting that the President created this commission despite opposition coming from within the Democratic party.
During the summer and fall, there was a considerable effort by the Peterson Foundation and in the media to convince people in America that Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid were to blame for the deficit and that they would need to be changed by either raising the age of eligibility or otherwise placing more of the cost onto the individual.
Members of the single payer community testified before the commission ( read my testimony here ), educated staffers in Congress and built a public education campaign called Handsoffourmedicare.org to counter the misinformation coming from the deficit commission and the media.
The commission was required to vote on recommendations to reduce the deficit by December 1st. They missed the deadline and were not able to gain enough votes to pass a package of recommendations. However, many believe that their proposed actions will turn up in legislation being put together in the coming year.
It is commonly accepted that the rising cost of health care is a fundamental cause of our national deficit, as well as the wars and financial catastrophe. Several members of the commission rightly said that we must deal with the cost of health care in order to effectively resolve the deficit.
Unfortunately, while the commission has made the correct diagnosis, they are ordering the wrong treatment. The commission proposed some initial cuts to Medicare including the Medicare funds that help to pay for the training of doctors, and proposed that more drastic measures be taken if the initial steps are not effective. Of course the initial steps will not be effective because they miss the cause of Medicare's difficulties.
Medicare and Medicaid are not the causes of our national deficit, they are the victims of a broken health system. As our overall health care costs rise, so do the costs of Medicare and Medicaid. The most effective way to control our health care costs would be to expand and improve Medicare and put everybody in the country on Medicare instead of using hundreds of different health insurances as we do now.
The administrative savings alone of a single payer national health program would be around $400 billion. There are other ways that single payer/Medicare for All controls health care costs such as giving hospitals and other medical institutions a global budget and negotiating for the prices of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and services.
We will need to watch carefully to make sure that Congress does not chip away at Medicare and Medicaid over the next few years. These social insurance programs have been effective in improving the health of the populations they serve and on lifting people out of poverty. It is imperative that we preserve and protect them as we continue to push for improved Medicare for all.
Thanks for bringing us up to date on single payer, Margaret. It was a pleasure talking with you again.
***
Physicians for a National Health Program website
I encourage your readers to visit www.vermontforsinglepayer.org to learn more about the efforts there and to support them.
Legislation will also be introduced at the national level again in both the House and Senate this year. It is important to work at both the state and national levels because we cannot predict where we will be successful first. Of course, the ultimate goal is a national single payer health program so that all people living in our country will have access to care and so that we can control our health care costs at the national level. Health care costs are a significant cause of our national debt.
Agreed. Tell us about the national deficit and the commission and efforts to cut social insurances like Medicare and Medicaid. How does that fit into the mix?
You are probably aware that the President appointed a commission to look at our national deficit last April. This commission, the National Commission for Fiscal Responsibility and Refom, was composed of 18 people, 14 of whom were fiscal hawks. The commission received support and staff from the Pete Peterson Foundation which has advocated for cuts to our social insurance programs for decades. It was interesting that the President created this commission despite opposition coming from within the Democratic party.
Members of the single payer community testified before the commission ( read my testimony here ), educated staffers in Congress and built a public education campaign called Handsoffourmedicare.org to counter the misinformation coming from the deficit commission and the media.
The commission was required to vote on recommendations to reduce the deficit by December 1st. They missed the deadline and were not able to gain enough votes to pass a package of recommendations. However, many believe that their proposed actions will turn up in legislation being put together in the coming year.
It is commonly accepted that the rising cost of health care is a fundamental cause of our national deficit, as well as the wars and financial catastrophe. Several members of the commission rightly said that we must deal with the cost of health care in order to effectively resolve the deficit.
Unfortunately, while the commission has made the correct diagnosis, they are ordering the wrong treatment. The commission proposed some initial cuts to Medicare including the Medicare funds that help to pay for the training of doctors, and proposed that more drastic measures be taken if the initial steps are not effective. Of course the initial steps will not be effective because they miss the cause of Medicare's difficulties.
Medicare and Medicaid are not the causes of our national deficit, they are the victims of a broken health system. As our overall health care costs rise, so do the costs of Medicare and Medicaid. The most effective way to control our health care costs would be to expand and improve Medicare and put everybody in the country on Medicare instead of using hundreds of different health insurances as we do now.
The administrative savings alone of a single payer national health program would be around $400 billion. There are other ways that single payer/Medicare for All controls health care costs such as giving hospitals and other medical institutions a global budget and negotiating for the prices of pharmaceuticals, medical devices and services.
We will need to watch carefully to make sure that Congress does not chip away at Medicare and Medicaid over the next few years. These social insurance programs have been effective in improving the health of the populations they serve and on lifting people out of poverty. It is imperative that we preserve and protect them as we continue to push for improved Medicare for all.
Thanks for bringing us up to date on single payer, Margaret. It was a pleasure talking with you again.
***
Physicians for a National Health Program website
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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