The author of this op is the CEO of Danforth Pewter.
2:49 PM, Sep. 14, 2011 |
One: Quality. Our health care system doesn’t produce very good health. Of the world’s 33 developed countries, the United States ranks near the bottom in health indicators like infant death, death that could have been prevented by proper health care, and life expectancy. From North America to Europe to the Middle East to Asia, people in countries with single-payer systems are consistently healthier than Americans.
Healthy workers do better work at lower cost than unhealthy workers. A single-payer system will provide Vermont companies with healthier workers.
Two: Hard costs. Judging by other single-payer systems around the world, going to single-payer should cut our health care costs roughly in half.
The report to the Vermont legislature recommended paying for single-payer with an 11 percent payroll tax. The legislature does not seem enthusiastic about this, and I expect we will end up with a combination of smaller taxes on payroll, income, and/or sales. However, even if we fund the system entirely with an 11 percent payroll tax, our small Vermont company would still have lower costs than under the current system; over the last five years, Danforth Pewter’s health care costs have averaged over 15 percent of payroll.
Three: Soft costs. How much time do you personally waste dealing with your health insurance every year? Multiply that across every employee in Vermont. Add the time everyone spends at benefits meetings trying to figure out the latest changes to their insurance. Add the additional time that the HR people at every Vermont company waste on health insurance administration every year.
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http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110915/BUSINESS08/110914020/Seven-reasons-single-payer-health-care-will-great-Vermont-business