It has been a while since the last significant discussion of conversion of the US health care system to a single payer format; that drought has been ended with the introduction of legislation by Sen. Sheila Kuehl D-LA) calling for a single payer to run California’s health care system.
The bill is a “work in progress”; Kuehl expects to introduce a more comprehensive, thorough bill in the next legislative session. In sum, the bill calls for a single payer funded by a tax surcharge to raise the estimated $184 billion required to cover the state’s citizens. Kuehl claims her plan will result in savings of over $8 billion to employers and families.
The plan would be administered by a single entity, but other health plans would be allowed to offer supplemental coverage.
The chances that this will ever see the light of day? None.
But kudos to the Senator for advancing a radical idea. While other governments and planners tweak around the edges, she has put forth a reasonable alternative, one that may help push the dialogue forward.
What does this mean for you?
A stalking horse or straw-man, your choice.
Oct
11
Stalking horse for the more progressive among us, and a straw man for those of a more capitalistic bent, this idea is not one that will go away, not as long as most western democracies have such plans in place and they appear to be working.
I have said it before and I will say it again, there IS a uniquely American solution, a blend of the best of “socialized medicine” and “private medicine” that will give every American coverage at a price we can all afford.
Hopefully Senator Kuehl’s bill will start a conversation that leads to something useful.
In a macro-economics class during my undergraduate days the professor drew a “supply and demand” graph for a particluar labor market. He praised how the market “set the price for labor” and talked about how wrong it was for government to impose a minimum wage that “skewed” the market results.
He did not have an answer when I asked him who was responsible for the people who were unable to employed or who could not pay their bills on the wage that the market “set.”
When it comes to health care, we need to figure out quickly who is responsible…