48 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 20 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
OpEdNews Op Eds   

Change You Can Believe in? Single-payer Appraisal of healthcare Reform

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   3 comments
Message Claudia Chaufan

To those led to believe that, as President Obama claimed, the passage of the health care bill is "comparable to the passage of Medicare and Social Security", and that "every American will be guaranteed high quality, affordable healthcare coverage" as a result of it, my advice is to hold off on uncorking the champagne.

For one, Social Security and Medicare were public programs that from their inception offered immediate benefits to millions of ordinary Americans, who for the first time could rely on old-age pensions and access healthcare services that until then had been completely out of reach.

But, aren't single payer advocates party spoilers, unable to recognize that the bill, even if "not perfect" is, as President Obama has asserted, a "step in the right direction" that will bring the American Dream closer to millions of suffering Americans?

The short answer is no.

As Physicians for a National Health Program has argued (disclosure: I am the vice-president of the California Chapter of this organization), there are multiple reasons to be deeply concerned about the bill, and not a shred of evidence that whatever good it may do required that Main Street pay Wall Street the bill's trillion-dollar price tag.

Yet this is precisely what it does, because this "historic bill", instead of eliminating the root of our healthcare woes, a profit-driven health insurance industry which makes money when it succeeds in not paying our medical bills, will enrich and further entrench the power of this industry.

How so? By forcing millions of Americans to buy its shoddy products or pay a fine, even as it offers eligible ones subsidies courtesy of taxpayers -- to purchase those products. Sound familiar? It should. The bill consolidates the major transfer of wealth from

Main Street
to Wall Street of the last decades, only second to the recent, similar transfer implemented under the dubious claim that otherwise the economy would disintegrate.

Below follow selected facts about the bill to help readers assess if this is the sort of change they were waiting for or, indeed, can believe in (Further information is available at www.pnhp.org).

* Millions of middle-income people will be mandated to buy commercial healthcare policies costing up to 9.5 percent of their income, yet covering as little as 60 percent of "covered services" (God only knows what those may be), leaving them vulnerable to financial ruin if they become seriously ill. Let us note that close to 80% of those filing for bankruptcy due to medical bills had insurance when they filed, because their policies, as will remain the case with many sold under the current bill, were impossible to use due to high co-pays, co-insurance, and deductibles. So yes, over 30 million Americans will be "covered" by this bill, but by an umbrella full of holes under pouring rain.

* People with employer-based coverage will be locked into their plans' "preferred providers' networks". So yes, workers will "keep their plans if they like them" (assuming they can afford the ever-increasing prices and don't lose their jobs, or their employers don't drop their plans), yet will have to keep them even if they don't like them.

* Insurers will be handed at least $447 billion in taxpayer money to subsidize the purchase of their shoddy products, which will entrench their financial and political power, thus their ability to block future reform.

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Claudia Chaufan Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Claudia Chaufan, M.D., Ph.D., is Associate Professor at the University of California, San Francisco. She is also a member of Physicians for a National Health Program-California (http://pnhpcalifornia.org/).

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Stop the Bipartisan Assault on Medicare. Support the People's Budget.

Change You Can Believe in? Single-payer Appraisal of healthcare Reform

From the Middle East to the Midwest, let's stand up for the rights of women and workers.

Why "chocolate or vanilla"? Put Single Payer on the table!

Change we can believe in: Americans need single payer now

No, Argentina is not crying for you, Mr. Cohen, by Mempo Giardinelli

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend