|
|
Key Features of Single-Payer
May 14, 2003
- Universal, Comprehensive
Coverage
Only such coverage ensures access, avoids a two-class
system, and minimizes expense
- No out-of-pocket payments
Co-payments and deductibles are barriers to access,
administratively unwieldy, and unnecessary for cost
containment
- A single insurance plan in
each region, administered by a public or quasi-public
agency
A fragmentary payment system that entrusts private firms
with administration ensures the waste of billions of
dollars on useless paper pushing and profits. Private
insurance duplicating public coverage fosters two-class
care and drives up costs; such duplication should be
prohibited
- Global operating budgets
for hospitals, nursing homes, HMOs
and other providers with separate allocation of capital
funds
Billing on a per-patient basis creates unnecessary
administrative complexity and expense. Allowing diversion
of operating funds for capital investments or profits
undermines health planning and intensifies incentives for
unnecessary care (under fee for service) or understatement
(in HMOs)
- Free Choice of Providers
Patients should be free to seek care from any licensed
health care provider, without financial incentives or
penalties
- Public Accountability, Not
Corporate Dictates
The public has an absolute right to democratically set
overall health policies and priorities, but medical
decisions must be made by patients and providers rather
than dictated from afar. Market mechanisms principally
empower employers and insurance bureaucrats pursuing
narrow financial interests
- Ban on For-Profit Health
Care Providers
Profit seeking inevitably distorts care and diverts
resources from patients to investors
- Protection of the rights of
health care and insurance workers
A single-payer national health program would eliminate the
jobs of hundreds of thousands of people who currently
perform billing, advertising, eligibility determination,
and other superfluous tasks. These workers must be
guaranteed retraining and placement in meaningful jobs.
from the American Journal of Public Health January 2003,
Vol 93, No.1
|
|
|
