What is Single-Payer National Health Insurance?
Single-payer national health insurance is a system by which a single public agency administers health financing, but delivery of care remains largely private, as between a patient and their personal physician.
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The single reason, and the only reason, that the US spends more and gets less than other industrailized nations is because we support a system of for-profit payers. Private insurers that waste health dollars on expenses that have little to do with paying for health care, and more to do with maintaining profit margins. Ever increasing membership premiums go to support the insurers' overhead, for uneeded expenses like underwriting, billing, sales and marketing departments as well as huge profits and exorbitant executive pay. Not one of which provide care to paying members. Doctors and hospitals complain that they must maintain costly administrative staffs to deal with the bureaucracy and the paperwork of dealing with multiple for profit insurers. Furthermore, the majority of insurance companies are publicly held corporations that are responsible to their stockholders to maximize profits in order to pay dividends. In addition, for profit insurance companies hire expensive lobbyists who pressure congress to draught legislation that increases or protects profits while preventing any movement towards a form of health care that would put them out of business. All combined, the administration and overhead costs of "for profit" insurance companies, consume one-third (31 percent) of Americans’ health dollars.
Single-payer financing is the only way to recapture this wasted money. The potential savings on paperwork alone, more than $350 billion per year, is enough to provide comprehensive coverage to everyone without paying any more than we currrently do.
Under a single-payer system, all Americans would be covered for all medically necessary services, including: doctor, hospital, preventive, long-term care, mental health, reproductive health care, dental, vision, prescription drug and medical supply costs. Patients would regain free choice of doctor and hospital, and doctors would regain autonomy over patient care.
A single-payer system would be financed by eliminating private insurers and recapturing their administrative waste. Modest new taxes would replace premiums and out-of-pocket payments currently paid by individuals and business. Costs would be controlled through negotiated fees, global budgeting and bulk purchasing. Additionally, proposed taxes on alcohol and cigarettes would go to pay for the increased costs of providing health care to those whose lifestyles invite medical problems.
Many of the employees of for profit health care insurers will find themselves out of work, but due to their experience, it is likely that they would be absorbed by regionalized Federal agency offices that would need to increase their workforce in order to begin to administer health care to all citizens, nationwide.
The implementation of patient electronic health records, which have a proven track record of saving lives and minimizing errors would be simplified and less costly, by having one agency responsible for collecting and maintaining records then making those records available when needed.
