Washington Independent: What Happened to Single Payer?

[marmar]

What Happened to Single Payer?
Universal Health Care Is 'Off the Table,' as Lawmakers Begin Crafting a Plan

By Mike Lillis 6/11/09 11:46 AM


As Congress dives head first into what has fast become a thorny debate over health care reform, the key Democrats in the discussion have insisted that all options remain on the table.

All, that is, except one.

Universal, single-payer health care — the idea that the government will cover everyone’s medical bills using taxpayer dollars — was dismissed by leading Democrats long before any details of their reform plans have been finalized. In the Senate Finance Committee, for example, a series of health reform discussions this year included input from academics, retirees, health insurers and other industry representatives, but no single-payer advocates were invited. Last month, the White House’s top health official told lawmakers that President Obama rejects the model altogether.

The dismissals have confounded supporters of the single-payer system, who contend it’s the only strategy that ensures universal access to care while minimizing expenses within a health system where costs are skyrocketing.

“Attempting to reconcile the dual imperatives of universal coverage and cost control through alternative methods besides single payer is an exercise in futility,” Walter Tsou, advisor to Physicians for a National Health Program, told lawmakers Wednesday during a hearing of the House Education and Labor Committee’s health subpanel. “When some congressional leaders declare that single payer is off the table, they are in effect saying that insurers will be protected, leaving the pain to patients, taxpayers and health care providers.”

The debate over the single-payer option highlights the difficulty facing the young White House and other Democratic leaders as they prepare to tackle health reforms this year. Quite aside from the cost concerns associated with the overhaul — and separate from the lobbying dollars that are pouring into Washington from the many medical industries — there’s also the ideologically driven fight over what a sound health care system looks like. From the right, Democratic leaders are being blasted with charges of too much government involvement. From the left, the same leaders are being attacked for not going far enough to provide government help. Somewhere in that mix, they’ve got to produce a proposal that can get 60 votes through the Senate. Many observers say that doing away with private insurers, as the single-payer model would — even if it’s done in the name of better, expanded health care — is simply too radical a concept to push through Congress. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://washingtonindependent.com/46417/what-happened-to-single-payer

[msongs]

1. the real single payer in the game is the health lobby with its single payments to congress lol nt