The big story this week is that in some areas the Affordable Health Care Act is causing premiums to rise as much as 22% as private insurers leave the market and Republican held states refuse to play. But this big issue will only play until The Donald says or tweets some deplorable thing or another, which is sure to happen any minute now.
Some facts.
Single payer health care means that “everyone” has money withdrawn from their monthly wages, a payroll tax, which is then used to pay for health care for “everyone.”
The entire world accepts this other than the Republican Party in America where we pay double what the rest of the world pays with poorer results. Even under the ACA our system is controlled by for profit insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
These systems vary throughout the world, only a very few like Great Britain are government owned and operated. Most all single payer plans are mixed hybrids where the money goes to NON PROFIT health insurance companies who make up their profits with privately sold HMO’s and supplemental plans. Preventative, catastrophic and most drugs are paid for in these systems. Government legislatures are lobbied and vote on how much is paid in and what is covered and so on. Most systems have individuals pay in somewhere between $2500 and $5000 a year.
Polls have shown consistently that the majority of Americans want a single payer system which Republicans have always managed to keep out of reach. As many as 70% wanted single payer in 2000, down to 51% after that black guy got in the White House and now Gallup from May 2016 show it at 59% of Americans.
When we see more than half of Americans do not like Obamacare, more that half of those want it replaced by single payer.
Hillary Clinton and her husband in 1994 did indeed try their best to give us a single payer system and failed.
In 2010 President Obama managed to pass a half ass version that left the system still in control of profit driven insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
Kruthammer is right, with electing Hillary Clinton and gaining the Senate, in the next eight years well we may indeed finally join the rest of the civilized world with a single payer system that is more fair, effective and affordable.
As it stands now if you are in the working class and get real sick you will lose your job, your car, your home and your family put out on the street. Raise your hand if you think that is what MAKES AMERICA GREAT.