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Answers
To Commonly Asked Questions About National Single Payer John R.
Battista, M.D. President, July
21, 2006 1.
Wouldn’t a national single payer insurance system be socialized
medicine?
A single payer, universal health insurance system would guarantee a right
to health care for all citizens of the
However, the health care delivery system would not be socialized.
Single payer is a health care insurance system, not a health care
delivery system. In the single payer
system we advocate, the fee for service, private delivery system would remain
intact and be expanded by “privatizing” the direct health care services
provided by states.
The health care system would become socialized under a single payer
system only if health care practitioners were paid a fixed salary for their
services. We do not advocate such a
system as it is not in accord with American values and would be unacceptable to
the majority of health care providers, although it has been successfully
utilized by the Veterans Administration and pre-paid group health plans such as
Kaiser. 2. What would a single payer health insurance system cost relative to our current multi-payer health care insurance system? Wouldn’t enacting such a system result in a massive tax increase?
All of the prospective state and national studies on the cost of single
payer relative to our current multi-payer system predict savings of about 10%.
The savings predicted by these studies is supported by data from single
payer industrialized countries who generally spend less than half of what the
United States spends per capita on health care while providing generally
comparable outcomes for acute illnesses, and generally superior outcomes for
global health care data such as infant mortality, and longevity. Canada, which
had similar health care expenses as the United States when it enacted its single
payer system over thirty years ago now spends half what the United States does
on health care per capita despite having surpassed the United States in terms of
overall health care indices.
In the short run, savings primarily result from decreased administrative
expenses (around 50%) and decreased costs of purchasing medications (around
40%). In the long run, additional
savings result from improved access to health care which prevents illness and
lowers the costs associated with it through earlier intervention.
In addition, there are many other savings under a single payer system
that were not considered by prospective studies.
First, as stated above, the initial 10% savings will be increased over
time due to preventing illness and early intervention.
Second, a single payer system would reduce health care costs by
coordinating and consolidating medical services and medical equipment.
Third, insurance plans which have medical benefits attached to them, such
as workman’s compensation insurance and car insurance would cost substantially
less under a single payer system because conflicts over the cause of medical
injury would no longer have to be adjudicated by legal proceedings.
Finally, a single-payer universal health insurance plan would control
costs by controlling the rate of reimbursement for medical services.
Although, it is not the intention of single payer advocates to reduce the
income of health care providers, health care providers will experience a
substantial (28%) reduction in administrative costs, experience a reduction in
malpractice insurance, save time by no longer having to have care pre-approved,
and experience an increased demand for their services.
All these factors would allow reimbursement for health care procedures to
be decreased while maintaining income.
While it is true that funding the single payer health care insurance
system would significantly raise taxes, the health care costs to the average
resident and business would be reduced due to no longer having to pay for health
insurance. 3.
Prospective studies on single payer which show substantial savings under
a single payer system are based on showing that the cost to provide the same
package of medical services under single payer is less than providing the same
package of medical services under our current multi-payer system.
However, wouldn’t demand for health services increase under a single
payer system thus decreasing or eliminating the savings predicted by these
studies?
It is true that the prospective single
payer studies are based on calculating the cost of delivering current health
care services if the current multi-payer insurance system were replaced by a
single payer insurance system. It is
also true that demand for medical services would increase under a universal
health insurance system, particularly in the short term, as there are many unmet
medical needs in our current population, specifically in the area of elective
surgeries such as knee replacements, cataract surgery, and dental care.
However, increasing access to outpatient care under a single payer system
will decrease the number of hospitalizations and utilization of emergency
services, thereby compensating, at least in part, for the cost of increased
demand in other areas.
Most prospective studies suggest savings in the health care system of
around 10% under single payer. We
believe that increased demand for health care services may be around 10%,
compensated, in part, by the hospitalizations that will be avoided and the
decreased utilization of emergency services that will occur as a result of
improved access to outpatient care. When 4.
Who would administer the national single payer health insurance system
if it were enacted? Wouldn’t
single payer result in a government run health care system? A small minority of single payer advocates suggest single payer insurance be administered by the government. They site the efficiency of our federal government in administering Medicare, which has administrative expenses of about 3% in comparison to private insurance companies which consume over 15% of health care premiums in marketing, profits, high salaries and managed care operations. However, there is a deep mistrust in the population of a government run program and profound skepticism that a government system would be efficient, effective, and responsive. Physician groups in particular are mistrustful of a government run system because they experience Medicare as unnecessarily complex and insufficiently responsive to their needs, although many appreciate the lack of managed care in traditional Medicare.
For these reasons, we advocate administering a single payer system
through a not for profit trust under the control of a board of directors
accountable to Congress. We believe
such a board must meaningfully represent each group that has a vested interest
in the health insurance system to negotiate solutions to those issues which the
administrative body will be called upon to resolve, such as determining fees for
services and the breadth of health care services to be covered by insurance.
The six groups that would need to be represented in such a board are
health care providers, health care organizations, patient advocates, tax payers,
businesses, and government officials.
Other single payer advocates support administering a not for profit trust
by an appointed board of health care delivery experts, similar to the federal
reserve system. Although this may be
an acceptable model, we oppose it because it does not ensure input from groups
that have a vested interest in the system and deprives them from selecting their
own board members to represent them.
5.
How would a single payer system be financed?
Four sources of income could be used to pay for the health insurance of a
single payer system: existing state and federal programs, excise fees on
activities detrimental to health, employer payroll premiums, and family health
premiums.
The state and federal governments would transfer funds that are currently
being utilized to pay for Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIPS programs into the
system. Emphasis should be placed on
making sure every eligible person is enrolled, thus maximizing state and federal
funding for the universal health insurance program.
The increased cost to the states of having more people enrolled in these
federally mandated programs would be compensated by no longer having to
administer these programs, no longer providing direct services, and the
decreased per capita cost of services.
We support excise fees on activities detrimental to health to the extent
that these activities can be shown to increase health care costs.
For example, we recommend that tobacco products be taxed to the extent
that funds generated from this tax would equal the health care costs that can be
reasonably shown to be attributable to their use.
Many single payer advocates recommend that employers pay a percent of
their payroll to the insurer to partially or fully pay for the cost of health
insurance for their employees. Many
advocate for a sliding scale on payroll taxes so that the smallest employers
would pay the least, while the largest employers would pay the most, although
all agree that the tax on large employers should be less than what they are
currently paying on average. Some
single payer advocates suggest relieving businesses from having to pay insurance
costs; instead, making these payments a matter of negotiation between employer
and employees in lieu of employees paying an income based health care tax.
Generally, single payer advocates suggest that all families pay a fixed
percent of their income to cover health insurance.
However, most single payer advocates believe their should be no cost to
families whose income is less than 185% of federal poverty guidelines.
Some advocates argue there should be a cap on family payments because
high income families would pay substantially more for this insurance than
comparable insurance available through the private sector.
Others, such as our group, disagree, arguing a flat tax on income is just
because all families would pay the same percent of their income for health
insurance. Additionally, adjustments
would have to be made for people eligible for Medicare and Veteran’s benefits,
as these individuals will already have the cost of most of their medical
insurance paid for them by the federal government.
As is readily apparent, this is a complex, critical and potentially
contentious aspect of enacting a single payer system.
It reveals the need to obtain input or ensure representation from
businesses, organized labor, Medicare advocates, Veterans advocates, health care
providers, health care organizations, and taxpayers who would be directly
effected by the recommendations of a board to Congress concerning health care
funding.
However, because a single payer system would be more cost efficient than
our current system it should be possible to provide universal health insurance
while decreasing the cost for the average family and employer.
When cost estimates have been constructed on a national level, without
considering excise taxes on activities detrimental to health, it has been
determined that a 2.5% income tax and a 6.5% payroll tax would adequately cover
the costs of a universal health insurance system.
Such a revenue system would create substantial savings for the average
large corporation and all but the wealthiest families.
6.
It is
often stated that the
No. The best health care in the world is available in the
Among the 29 industrialized nations, the
When quality of care comparisons are made between the United States and
Canada-- the country whose population and culture is most similar to the United
States--in terms of survival from cancer, coronary artery disease, kidney
failure and a wide variety of other illnesses, Canada is equal to or superior to
the United States. In addition,
Single payer would improve the quality of care, not just for the poor and
uninsured, but for the general population, by replacing the for-profit, managed
care portion of our health care delivery system with private, fee-for-service
medicine in which health care decisions are made by the health care provider in
conjunction with the patient. For-profit,
managed health care has been shown to provide poorer quality care, and to be
less satisfying to the public, as per a comprehensive July, 1999 review in the Journal of the America Medical
Association by Himmelstein, Woolhandler, Hellander and Wolfe.
To summarize, it is expected that a single payer universal health
insurance program would increase the quality of care both by minimizing the
negative impact of for-profit, managed care and by increasing the health and
longevity of the population as a result of providing universal health insurance
coverage that would enable access to preventive health care and early
intervention in medical illness which is lacking in a substantial portion of our
population under our current multipayer-system. 7.
Wouldn’t there be waiting lines, like
There are substantial waiting lines in 8.
What problems of our current health care system would be solved or not
solved by enacting a national single payer universal health care insurance
system?
It would solve the problem of the uninsured.
This group of predominantly working individuals and their families have
both poorer health care and higher health care costs than the insured segment of
our population. Single payer would
provide the uninsured comprehensive health insurance which would improve their
health and lower health care costs not only for them, but the entire population.
It would solve the problem of the underinsured; the 25% of those insured
who would be bankrupted by a major medical illness.
Single payer would protect them from medical bankruptcy, the leading
cause of bankruptcy in the
It would solve the problem of moderate-income workers who are locked in
unwanted jobs because they would lose their health care benefits if they were to
leave their job. Single payer would
allow these workers the freedom to choose their work without losing their health
care benefits.
It would solve the problems of Medicare recipients who, on average, spend
20% of their disposable income on health care.
Single payer would decrease out-of-pocket expenses for Medicare
recipients.
It would solve the problem of substandard medical care for the poor
through Medicaid because the low reimbursement rates of Medicaid keeps the best
health practitioners from participating in it.
It would also solve the problem of access to medical care experienced by
many poor families under Medicaid. By
providing the same quality health insurance to all individuals, regardless of
income, the quality of medical care and access to care for people currently
insured by Medicaid would be greatly improved.
It would solve the problem of businesses struggling to provide health
insurance benefits for their employees. Single
payer would make health care insurance more affordable to small businesses and
decrease the onerous expense of health care insurance experienced by many large
corporations. In addition, single
payer would assist all businesses in lowering the cost of workman’s
compensation. Single payer would
decrease workman’s compensation expenses by alleviating the need to adjudicate
conflicts over whether a medical problem is job related or not, thereby saving
time and money.
Single payer would resolve the problems of managed care: the breach of
patient confidentiality that comes from subjecting physician’s treatment
recommendations to insurance company pre-approval; the compromise of patient
care that results from health care recommendations being micro-managed to
minimize costs; the disruption of the doctor-patient relationship that results
from insurance companies having limited provider networks; and the frustration
that many patients and health care givers experience in accessing and providing
health care through the managed care system.
Single payer would provide free choice of health practitioner, ensure the
right of health practitioners and patients to determine the most appropriate
health care for them, ensure the continuity and confidentiality of care, and
facilitate access to health care.
A single payer system would not solve the problem of the lack of
coordination of medical care or the medical errors which occur in our health
care system. However, it would be
relatively easy to coordinate medical care and medical record keeping under a
single payer system. Additionally,
by relieving the hospital system of the dire financial pressures it currently
faces, it could decrease the number of medical errors that occur under our
current system. 9.
Wouldn’t the cost of a single payer system inevitably increase and run
into the kind of deficit problems that threaten the Medicare system? No. This definitely would not be the case. Medicare is a prospective payment insurance system in which taxpayers pay into the system during their working years to obtain medical insurance when they are 65 or disabled. A single payer system is a balanced budget system in which costs and funding would be adjusted on a year to year basis in order to ensure a balanced budget.
Although, costs for health care may increase as the population lives
longer and new treatments/procedures are discovered, international experience
shows the rate of increase will be much less under a single payer system than
our current multi-payer system. 10.
Under a national single payer system, who would decide what medical
procedures for a particular individual would be paid for? As we envision it, the Board of Directors of a Health Care Insurance Trust would negotiate a benefits package that would be insured subject to Congressional approval. There are three basic models for carrying out that insurance package for a particular patient with a particular medical need. In the first model, the licensed health care practitioner in collaboration with the patient decide on the appropriate care to be paid by the insurer. In the second model, medical care decisions are made by the primary care physician in conjunction with the patient, and specialty services must be certified by the primary care practitioner before they will be covered. In the third model, the insurer manages health care services. It is clear that the vast majority of health care practitioners dislike the managed care model and would oppose working in an insurance system that micro-managed their decisions. In addition, such a model would increase the administrative costs of the system in a way that would make it much less cost effective. For that reason, we strongly believe there should be no managed care in a single payer health care insurance system. Both the totally unmanaged system and the primary care model might be acceptable. Practitioners would definitely prefer the unmanaged model, but the primary care gatekeeper model does have the potential advantage of better coordinating care and potentially constraining health care expenses. On the other hand, a primary care model would necessitate additional office visits, be somewhat more complex and expensive to administer, and constrain patient choice, thereby making it less appealing to the average person. Overall, we advocate the model in which health care decisions about services covered by the insurance benefit package are made by the health care practitioner in collaboration with the patient. 11.
What would happen to the insurance workers that would be displaced by a
single payer health care system? It is true that many people who work for insurance companies or for state governments in health care related jobs would be displaced by a single payer system. Although some of them could be employed by the new single payer system, inevitably a substantial number would become unemployed. In that sense, they would bear the cost savings of the new health care system. For that reason, we believe the single payer system should expend some of its resources to re-train those workers who are unable to find employment after they are displaced. Because a single payer insurance system will increase demand for health care services a good number of them could be re-trained as health care workers.
12.
What would be the economic impact of a single payer insurance system for
the
Overall, the impact would be very positive.
Because the cost of health insurance would be substantially decreased for
businesses, American businesses would become much more competitive
internationally. Additionally,
because workers would no longer be stuck in jobs they do not want in order to
maintain health care benefits, worker productivity should increase.
Furthermore, the cost of insurances which have an health care aspect,
such as workman’s compensation and car insurance, would substantially decline
further improving the competitive position of American companies or lowering
prices.
13.
Would a single payer system be acceptable to health care practitioners
and the general public?
Who would oppose this system being enacted?
Health care practitioners are frustrated by
the lack of health insurance for a substantial part of the population and by the
complexity of obtaining coverage and compensation for medical services they
perceive as necessary and appropriate. Furthermore,
they are distressed by their inability to negotiate fees for their services with
insurers. They would support a
single payer, universal health insurance system to the extent that such a system
did not result in a substantial decrease in their incomes, freed them of
pre-approval and administrative hassle, and provided them with an opportunity to
negotiate fees for their services. A
single payer system governed by a board in which they were fairly represented
would meet all of these requirements.
The general population is frustrated by the high cost of medical
insurance, the complex task of accessing medical care under it, and the problem
of the uninsured among us, which they recognize increases the cost of health
care for us all. They would support
a single payer, universal health insurance system as long as it did not cost
more than the current system and decreased their frustration with accessing care
within in. The majority of Americans
support fundamental change in our health care system and support the conversion
of our multi-payer system to a Canadian style system.
On the other hand, over 90% of Canadians support their system and would
oppose its transformation to an American style system.
Single payer would be opposed by insurance companies who would lose their
health care insurance business and pharmaceutical companies who would have their
profits curtailed by negotiating the price of prescription drugs by the single
payer agency on behalf of the population. To
some extent it may be opposed by very wealthy families who would experience an
increased cost of health insurance under such a system.
It would be opposed by those individuals who do not view health insurance
as a right. Finally, it would be
opposed by businesses who currently do not offer health insurance to their
employees if they were mandated to pay a percent of their payroll to support the
health insurance of their employees. 14.
How would fees for services be determined in a single payer insurance
system?
Ideally, fees would be set by the single payer
insurance system in negotiation with representatives of health care
practitioners and taxpayers. This
would be a major improvement over our current health care system where fees are
set for health care practitioners by insurance companies without representation
or by health care practitioners without adequate consideration of patient
finances. 15.
Are there legal issues that would need to resolved before a single payer
universal health
insurance system could be enacted?
Yes. A
waiver would have to be obtained from the federal government to pay for the
medical care of those individuals covered by federal mandates on a lump sum
basis. Such a change would be
welcomed by the current federal administration which has proposed this as a
solution to the current difficulties with the Medicare and Medicaid systems.
We do not believe there would be a legal problem with insurance companies
under a single payer system. Such
companies would still be free to offer medical insurance, although there would
be no reason for citizens to purchase such insurance.
Insurance companies might argue that their ability to do business has
been taken from them and sue for losses under the WTO.
This is something on which expert legal opinion should be obtained. 16.
How would a single payer system deal with issues of cost containment,
quality assurance, and fraud? We envision cost containment, quality assurance and fraud issues to be handled through a Quality Assurance Division of the not for profit trust which would administer the insurance system. Such a Quality Assurance Division would work with a health practitioner advisory board to determine pragmatic and cost-effective quality standards, which would be used to educate providers on cost containment issues. The system would thus educate health care practitioners through quality of care standards rather than micro-managing individual cases. Quality assurance would be handled in two ways. First, by investigating complaints from patients about their practitioners or health care organizations. Second, by investigating those situations in which the pattern of utilization of a particular health care practitioner differs significantly from the patterns expected under the quality of care standards established by the insurer with input from health care practitioners and health care organizations.
Fraud would be
investigated through a system similar to Medicare.
Practitioners whose patterns of care significantly differ from their
colleagues in the state would be investigated to determine if the basis for
these discrepancies is fraud. Furthermore,
consumers would receive copies of all billing done by their practitioners and be
encouraged to report discrepancies between what was billed for and what services
their caregiver provided. 18. Isn’t it
inevitable that the proposed health care system would be less efficient
because
it would stifle the competitive, free market system?
There is nothing about a single payer system that would stifle
competition in health care. Health
care practitioners and health care organizations would still compete with one
another for patients. In fact the
system would become more competitive because everyone would be free to see any
health care practitioner. There
would be no limitations on practitioner choice as there is under the current
health care system: all licensed practitioners would be allowed to participate
in the system. However, as in our
current system, there would be little or no competition among practitioners on
the basis of cost. 19. Will access to alternative medicine practitioners be covered?
The visits and treatments recommended by any
licensed health care provider in a particular state would be covered.
20. Many other proposals have been made to solve our current health care problems: high deductible insurance in combination with medical savings accounts; increased governmental support for people of limited means to make health insurance more affordable; governmental mandates to either a) demand all citizens obtain health insurance or b) demand businesses provide health insurance for their employees or pay money to the government to allow it to offer affordable health insurance. What is your opinion about these alternative proposals?
High deductible, low cost, insurance programs
in combination with a medical savings account save money for those individuals
eligible for them and save money for companies who currently provide more
expensive health insurance for their employees.
However, their overall economic impact is minor as 80% of all medical
expenses are accounted for by 20% of the population, mostly in their last year
of life. In addition, it is unclear
if patients exercising more discrimination over health care expenditures
decreases over all health care costs. The
increased costs of health care associated with lack of insurance and the recent
Additional government
subsidies for people of limited means to make health insurance more affordable
would be useful in decreasing the number of uninsured but increase government
expenses. In addition, it would not
address the main reasons health insurance is so much more expensive in this
country than in other industrialized countries:
the high administrative costs associated with private insurance, and the
high cost of prescription medications as a result of the inability of
individuals and many insurance programs, such as traditional Medicare, from
negotiating the price of prescription
medications.
Pay or play mandates on businesses would decrease the number of uninsured
and allow governments to provide lower cost health insurance for the population.
However, it would do nothing to decrease the administrative overhead and
inability to negotiate the price of prescription drugs which are the main
reasons health care insurance costs are so high in the
Direct mandates on the population to purchase health insurance, as was
recently passed in
On the other hand, we would support the federal government mandating
universal health care insurance to the states and allowing each state to find
its own means to provide universal health care insurance.
We believe that kind of experiment would show single payer to be the most
effective and efficient universal health insurance system. 21. Wouldn’t it be unethical and undemocratic to force people to pay taxes for health insurance they do not want, particularly since people who are wealthy and many young families would have to pay more for health insurance under a single payer system than they would pay under our current multi-payer system? This question equates democracy and ethics with free choice and perceives paying taxes for a system which a particular individual does not support to be undemocratic and unethical. From this perspective, taxes to provide funds for education, welfare, and environmental protection might all be considered undemocratic and unethical. This question implies the only good government is one that allows its citizens to do what they want and does not interfere with their acting in accord with their own perceived self interest. However, we do not believe democracy refers to freedom from taxation for public expenses one does not support, but rather, refers to the right to meaningfully influence and participate in government. Single payer, as we advocate it, is particularly democratic because it returns the right of influence and participation to the very individuals and groups which are directly affected by health care insurance. Under our current system, decisions about health insurance are commonly made by politicians, federal and state health care administrators, and executives of corporations without the meaningful participation of health care providers, health care recipients or taxpayers. Single payer, as we envision it, would allow these groups to be fairly represented on a board and to be empowered to make decisions about costs and benefits, subject to legislative approval. Such a single payer system would expand the democratic control of our current health care system and would constitute an improvement over those single payer systems which are administered by limited participation government systems.
We consider single payer health insurance to be ethical because it makes
access to health care a right. Under
our current health care system, access to health care is limited by ability to
pay. The poor receive second class
health care under the state Medicaid system, while low paid hourly workers are
most likely to forgo health care because of cost, and pay a much higher percent
of their income for it. Moreover,
because of the relationship between ethnicity and class, African Americans and
Hispanic Americans are most likely to be without health insurance, have poorer
health and die younger. Additionally,
for the ill, health insurance cost are increased or fail to cover preexisting
conditions. We consider this
financially based health care system to be immoral and unjust because it results
in the premature death of the poor,
near poor, ill, and people of color. Furthermore,
we believe a single payer system to be financially just because all families
above the federal poverty guideline will pay the same percent of their income
for health insurance. Additionally,
the common good is served by single payer through significantly decreasing the
cost of health insurance for the vast of the population and significantly
improving the health and financial security of the population as a whole. 22. Would this health insurance be portable? Yes, the insurance would be good for any
participating health care practitioner or hospital in the Contact
Information: John Battista, M.D., Email: riverbend2@earthlink.net Phone: 860-354-1822 Connecticut Coalition for Universal Health Care Website: http://cthealth.server101.com |
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