Ed On Single-Payer

[FRSFreeStateES]

Single Payer Health Care has never been on the table in America because its never had the votes.

[coolbreezed]

If I am willing to pay more to a doctor for treatment then why should I have to wait behind those who pay less?

That's what I don't get about single payer.

Single payer puts people who work hard and make the right lifestyle and financial decisions throughout their lives on the same level as those who do not.

If we are going to have any meaningful healthcare reform in the U.S. it has to start with protections of a person's ability to contract individually with their HC provider.

[elnegrobembon]

funny how canadians, and pretty much every other industrialized countries who have single payer, think otherwise... and they've had it for decades...

[TheGorgonops]

The Truth Ministry sent ED to straighten us all out.

[TheAdamTheory]

If we had the gold standard, less regulation, and a less corrupt cartel of medical schooling, health insurance would be much cheaper. People would not be forced to pay or be covered.

If you don't want it, you don't have to have it.

[jeffmagic32]

How about we all pay with our own money? Its pretty easy to understand, it adds nothing to the national debt, and its Constitutional. Imagine that.

[emtravelrn]

Jeff, are you by any chance in your twenties or thirties? I'm asking you to consider things like an unforseen accident. Let's say you're driving and road conditions become bad due to say the weather, you lose control of your vehicle and you're severely injured and spend a few weeks in the ICU. Let's assume your inpatient coverage is 80/20. Are you prepared to cover 20% of several hundreds of thousands of dollars out-of-pocket?

[jeffmagic32]

In a deregulated market, I could get catastrophic health insurance in case something like that happened. Currently, that is not allowed in my state thanks to government regulations. That is actual insurance, not the managed care plans that people have started to call insurance these days.

[LoveToday8]

Sure once employers stop stagnating wages.

[rasaxSF]

We cannot afford or contain our own health care model costs, and pay more per person than places with nationalized systems. Stop listening to the lie factory because their bottom line next quarter depends on good people believing them. Our system now is a dismal failure, and a single-payer plan is a step toward a much more efficient solution. 45+ million uninsured Americans is an embarrassing failure, and medical bills now accounting for more people filing bankruptcies proves it.

[3daywkend]

I'm not embarrassed by it, half of them are illegal immigrants anyways. I'm not willing to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous rationing just to insure 100% of the population.

[rasaxSF]

I'm embarrassed for anyone who skews the most basic facts of the discussion yet feels compelled to have an opinion and share it publicly. It isn't irony that most industrialized have nationalized systems and we don'tl, but inexcusable stupidity to lend bald-face lies any credibility. Mainstream media must do a better job than give industry monopolists and their cheerleaders the spotlight and call it an opinion. They used to be called robber barons when ripping off the public was a bad thing.

[3daywkend]

Do you even have a neutral analysis that every American can be covered with tax dollars alone? And how high those taxes would have to be, and potential drawbacks? We have the head of Canada's health system publicly stating that the single-payer-only system needs to be re-thinked. As for ripping off the public, I'm a fan of co-ops.

[rasaxSF]

I prefer authoritative sources to neutrality & any analysis will be limited by the approach Congress takes. Several analyses have been published range from public plan to an expansion of Medicare. Economists Paul Krugman & Joe Stiglitz have written extensively about the need/costs for such reform. Public interest groups, like Physicians for a National Health Plan are extremely resourceful for information about savings. I'm not terribly interested in Aetna's bottom line & that's my bias.

[rasaxSF]

As far as drawbacks go, it's premature to speculate since a public option in the U.S. is still in the planning stages. Will it be an expansion of Medicare or something else? We don't know.  What we do know is there will be a lot of savings without the overhead price tag from insurance companies. I'm not a fan of co-ops & it's an outdated model being pushed by an outdated party that seems to forget that only 50 votes are needed for passage. They need to learn some manners.

[LoveToday8]

Co-ops are crap. Do some research.

It's also still government run if the government will give it start-up money.

Why not have single payer and avoid a huge waste of Americans tax dollars?

[lazrul]

I'm not sure anyone knows why we arent going for single payer. The opposition to it doesnt even seem to know exactly why they are opposing it. I think we all know it's inevitable and that the opposition has deeper more sinister issues for opposing it...

[FluxCapacitor2008]

Yes republics and some democrats want to keep the insurance industry cash cow this is how they stay in power, the republics and some democrats work for big business. This is why the republicans go after the Unions, Unions fund the democrats because some of them work for the meddle class. The middle class out numbers the upper class so the big business power base that runs our government with money, dont want people to organize.

[rasaxSF]

Actually, 3daywkend, life expectancies are lower in the U.S. than places with nationalized health systems. We rank #50 - so we don't get to hold that foam #1 finger to the world when we pay more per capita and get so much less. Access to preventative care will keep people healthier and living longer. Even insurance companies know it and agree. There's an enormous savings/reduction in later inpatient fees for untreated conditions. A single-payer is part of that solution.

[rasaxSF]

3daywkend -

That's a common misnomer being spread by the lie factory opposing single-payer. A single-payer model simply establishes one source to pay your medical bills. As it is now, insurance capitation is responsible for driving the heard mentality that treats patients like cattle in medicine. Their capitation rates are lower than Medicare fee-for-service reimbursement rates, and hospital closures are driven more by costs, low reimbursement & mismanagement under the insurance model.

[3daywkend]

This is all theory, and it in practice it hasn't panned out so good. People who can afford private insurance should be allowed to continue with it. Canada is beginning to realize this.

[rasaxSF]

Not at all, 3daywkend. Insurance companies rely on those same 'theories' in order to calculate savings and cost projections for preventative care. They've been doing it for years, so it's hardly some wild, unproven idea. Canadians, btw, generally support their system and more prefer their own to ours. Try asking a few Canadians sometime for a range of their views without assuming one for them.

[mxrss]

Lifestyle choices have a lot to do with how long you live. If i choose the salad its definatly more healthy then eating mcdonals, the problem is fast food is to readily available and people would rather eat it then a home cooked dinner because of convinence. Asian countries live longer and are healthier because thier diet is more pro-life. Also because the cities are PACKED most people ride bikes or walk or take public transit and walk.

[fleming79elf]

More proof that GE owns MSNBC and has six billion dollars riding on goverment health care. They say its all part of taking care of the little guy but the only ones that ever profit are big companies. We always blame doctors, hospitals, and companies calling them greedy but the standards are set by government. The one thing that sets us apart from animals is freedom of choice why give it up?

[senseicobra]

if anyone who is in power is doing anything like this i pray they all die. this is not enough for the american people. if you want to find me because of what i've said just now. fine come and get me im not in hidding im just at a computer trying to pay off bills i cant pay because of bull such as this is going on on all levels of power. gov. senate, house, market. the people deserve better. heres my message, you better shape up because i'm coming. and you dont want me to be in your face!!

[rasaxSF]

We need a single-payer plan to begin enacting some much needed reform in health care. A single-payer means there will be only one source to cover medical bills - that's it.

[burgercide]

hey, that's ok.

i've been a little less than cordial sometimes myself.

[burgercide]

well, having an insurance pool that is five time larger than the most successful system on the planet only means that we have an even more favorable situation here for single-payer.

a larger pool of participants is always a good thing for a spread-the-risk insurance system (public or private).

and all systems around the world are experiencing stress right now due to the current recession.

[mxrss]

burgercide thanks for the inteligent response (read war hater)

Actually the pool in france has been experiencing financial hardships since the late 80's, germany is also in the same boat. They have created co-pays but people are now going to the doctor for every little thing. That too is a problem, also queue times are extermly long and most countries with social medicare have long wait times for specialists. Thier is a way to solve this but it will take time, it can not be rushed.

[burgercide]

We pay twice as much as France does for healthcare, and they're healthier than we are and they live longer than we do.

Just a reminder.

Love,

Single Payer

[mxrss]

also wanted to applogize for my opening comment it was a bit disrespectfull, and probably could of been reworded to get the point across without sounding rude.

[JohnRhysMusician]

Only a handful of doctors support single-payer. The ignorance of liberals is astonishing.

[A86]

Actually most doctors support single-payer. At least 59%.

(dot) reuters (dot) com/ article / latestCrisis / idUSN31432035

[RCCHealthNutrition]

the first reform for lower medical costs we need... is tort reform, that's TORT REFORM. remove the majority of all the ridiculous, over-blown, frivolous law suits, and the cost of medical services will increase much more slowly.

[Superplatanoman]

tort reform alone is not going to do it. and that's on the table. Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 passed. I don't know how that helped

[eastergirls]

Actually the insurance companies are more responsible for the lawsuits than anybody else. They deny ER visits for a person tripping and injuring themself while walking in a creek. They mandated that the person paying for health insurance was supposed to bring a suit against the property owner of the creek, which was owned by the Federal Govt, aka we the taxpayer. so they get you coming and going.

Yeah, it's the insurance companies that are demanding these actions. Assanine.

[FluxCapacitor2008]

Health care will cost a lot less with the public option in play, you keep your private insurance profit machine and I will pay into a non-profit health care system. Do you think that maybe the insurance industry and our government may be lying to us just to keep the money rolling in.

[yoshirider123]

maybe in like 10 years after the public option destroyes the private insurance has Obama has said, America will have a full rationing, Single payer system

[FluxCapacitor2008]

Sen. Grassley held a town meeting in Waukon Iowa on June 30, 2009. A constituent shared his family's personal struggle with the burden of high health care costs and asked the Senator why he couldn't get quality, affordable health insurance like Senators get. Senator Grassley advised his constituent to "go work for the federal government" if he wanted quality insurance.

watch?v=YzZwAhuqzAw

[johnnorvaisas]

Wake up there are plenty of health plans out there you liberal nuts just don't want to pay for it.

You want us working people to pay for it and tax us like crazy screw you liberal socialists!

Move to Canada if you want high taxes and rationed garbage health care!

[FluxCapacitor2008]

How can we trust that our elected officials have our best interest in mind if they take all that money from the health insurance industry? I say HELL NO!

[stonecoldjason]

How can we trust big business would have our best interest in mind if they take when they take all of our money and then when you get sick they say HELL NO we want pay, then other insurance companies will not pick you up because of pre-exsiting conditions, or you still cannot afford treatment because of all th out of pocket expense

[FluxCapacitor2008]

The conservatives put it out as if all the uninsured people will make a run on health care system and brake the bank, a large percentage of Americans uninsured and insured are not sick and dont use the health care system but they pay and pay into private insurance companies.

[stonecoldjason]

those who are not sick and do not use health care are loved by the insurance people

[huidel]

Ed is the pit bull we need for Single Payer. No other journalist is as passionate and persistent. He keeps harping on those who want to keep the corrupt insurance industry making millions by denying life-saving treatments for their members who pay their premiums. This is tantamount to murder as Michael Moore so correctly stated. Obama is paid by the insurance industry as are most Congress members.Keep up the heat, Ed! You are our hero.

[FluxCapacitor2008]

Ed is the voice of America!!!! 3 to 5 PM on 1310AM in Detroit

[FluxCapacitor2008]

Google Lobbyist database (open secrets) and have a look for you self. How can they take this money from the few and serve the majority.

[FluxCapacitor2008]

Dont let the insurance lobbyist propaganda machine and a few wing nuts brainwash us, its not about whats best for you its about keeping the money flowing in. You think the ultra rich power base in Washington will feed us the facts about their cash cow. NO they get cash for votes and the guarantee of a fat corporate job if they get voted out for going against the people.

[FluxCapacitor2008]

The cost of insurance is passed on to you and me with every thing we buy, $3000 dollars on a new car just to cover worker health insurance, and soon they off shore jobs to get around health care for workers and good bye job and insurance. So conservatives need to look at the total cost of the health insurance industry

[stonecoldjason]

It is already, you pay big insurance companies, for blue cross blue shield, then you pay that 80/20 part, then you pay the supplemental plans for hosptial stays

so I rather pay an extra $5,000 in taxes then paying health ins companies $8,000 a year health ins companies can denie you coverage on pre existance condations

[FluxCapacitor2008]

Health insurance is the number one reason US businesses are uncompetitive in the world market. Conservatives think just because your employer pays your health insurance its free, wrong.

[stonecoldjason]

looks like business would love public companies does not have to provide health ins

[FluxCapacitor2008]

stonecoldjason you are a voice of reason, the tide is turning and we need to keep the pressure on. The ultra rich power base has been buying our government for to long. They have made billions on the wars and by screwing the middle class. Its time to cut out the pork and waste and start spending our tax money on America. Our government takes in over 3 trillion dollars a year in taxes and Americans need to work 2 jobs (if you can find one) just to keep up with insurance premiums increases

[stonecoldjason]

got parkenson diease right now do not know how much longer I will have to work. even blue cross blue shiled of florida does not pay for all my treatments

using my time up now got about 2 years of sick time on the books along with a disablity policy after that it is gov medicare for me but then it wll take me two years when I get my social security just to get that

[FluxCapacitor2008]

stonecold I wish you well,

The only thing evil men need to succeed is for good men to do nothing. People are dieing (American People) and some senotors think we should keep the money train rolling because the insurance industry tells us it will cost us money or you will have to wait in line for health care. Bull

[lazrul]

go ed you the man. you ballzy son of a bitch. kick ass brother

[Joe402]

if single payer is not implemented I am voting Republican next election just to make the collapse of America a reality.

Death to America.

[stonecoldjason]

if you voted for bush you voted for the collapse of america it is already a reality

[Joe402]

Actually if you voted Reagan you voted for the collapse of America. Voting Bush just accelerated it.

[yoshirider123]

I hope you mean collapse of the Soviet Union.

[lazrul]

ed is passionate

[zynesthesia]

Why doesn't Senator Stabenow hold her own hearing on health care and EXCLUDE Senator Baucus from the table?

[thoughtsurfer1]

I hope somebody takes away Congressman Boner's government healthcare. For-profit health has got to go!

[SAMRAM29]

Yes that's a good question Ed. Why were the single payer advocates excluded from the table?

[Silberdachs]

Heres a rundown of money that the people who are blocking real reform in health care have received from the health care industry: Specter ($4,02m) Baucus ($2,8m) McConnell ($2.7m) When you take a look at Big Insurance, the non-presidential candidates who got biggest legalized bribes were the 7 senators tasked with the job of killing single-payer: Nelson ($1.1m) Baucus ($1.1m) Lieberman ($1.03m) Specter ($1.03m) Schumer ( $0.98m) McConnell ($0.93m) Grassley ($0.88m)

[nohealthcare62]

I was told @ Dept. Of Human Services I do not QUALIFY .....to Live .....and I was refused emergency room care @ a COUNTY Hosp.. full of illegals I only qualify for death

[tragicallyhiprule]

First off, why in the world would your emplotyer continue to pay your healthcare if there is a national single payor program in place? Think of the money that businesses would save without the burden of having to worry about paying 75%-100% of their workers healthcare

[sushifool]

get em big eddie

[AutumnRaine6]

I am dumb founded because of America's lack of response to this blatant abuse of power. Are we really going to sit back and let the government ARREST educated, concerned, tax paying citizens for simply asking for "a seat at the table"?

Instead of discussing the merits of single payer here -- where no one knows what facts are true -- why don't we demand that they receive A SEAT AT THE TABLE! They are the experts!! They have data they would like to share! GIVE THEM A SEAT!

[CrowdPleeza]

It needs to be pointed out that you don't have to have a single payer system to achieve universal coverage. Many European countries such as Germany and Switzerland have achieved universal coverage without a single payer approach.

[lava200]

Single payer would be the simple and cheaper approach for America. I think the problem will be with the insurance companies. They won't make money and everyone would be able to get healthcare!

[lava200]

Those countries aren't as large as America. I know the German and UK systems well. They could work. But we already have Medicare. We just need to fund it and open it to all. Most doctors, including specialists already accept Medicare.

[CrowdPleeza]

The thing is managing the types of healthcare systems they have in Europe is more complicated than Americans know. The French system could go bankrupt unless their reforms work. The UK's NHS has debt problems and 50% of Japan's hospitals have deficit problems. We Americans definitly need to have accountants in on desiging our new system. Also our U.S medicare system is in financial trouble.

[lava200]

Can you cite a source for any of this? All economies are in trouble right now. I've never heard your numbers before or the level of threat you are talking about.  Thanks!

[CrowdPleeza]

Google these:

NHS debt BBC

BBC France Healthcare

Japan healthcare NPR

[RoyalDemonforChrist]

lets put the government in charge of our lives. great idea

[MindsiMedia]

Please get your head out of your butt. We ALREADY have a govt. that can investigate you, send you to prison or ruin your life with impunity. Your bent out of shape over an idea that could save us money & improve our health care. I'd rather have the government run my health care than companies all competing to lower costs & increase profits. I's not fair that this issue is being excluded from the discussion. I'm emailing the White House and my Senators and urge everybody to do the same.

[ZombiesNTea]

Are you opposed to having the "government in charge of our lives" in terms of fire protection, and police protection, as well?

[cameraman502]

police and fire protection are rights granted to us by the government as single-payer advocates claim in order to associate the two with their view. A police officer is under no legal obligation to protect you. Only by contract is police protection granted, as a government's job is to protect your rights not to provide them to you. Even with single-payer coverage you are not granted the "right" to healthcare because it has to be provided. As a right is protection TO ACT, not a grant.

[CrowdPleeza]

I'll support an healthcare system that has been approved by most accountants. They can tell you if the numbers add up.

I'am in no hurry for a single payer system. Go to the BBC news site and do some searches for the NHS and you'll see why.

[729zoom]

Single Payer is what they have in Canada - national INSURANCE but the delivery of care is mostly private. England is actually socialized medicine but, fyi, their system is working better than ours and they have much better outcomes. Their problems are also dealt with openly on behalf of patients instead of profits for the private insurance industry and their shareholders.

[CrowdPleeza]

Whatever healthcare approach we come up with for America it will need to take into account the retirement of our 78 million baby boomers. They will become huge consumers of healthcare and we'll be loosing their tax dollars which will be needed to fund a gov't run healthcare system. Even Canadians are concerned about how their retiring boomers will affect their healthcare system.

[729zoom]

The system we have now is the one that is unsustainable - insurance premiums rising 5 x faster than wages. Feeding the fat middleman can't work any longer. By simply removing the biggest waste in our system (private insurance takes out over 1/3 of our healthcare dollars and contributes NOTHING to health care) we CAN cover everyone to see any doctor or hospital for and SAVE money. Everyone in Canada is already covered under the government insurance so people.

[cameraman502]

What is needed most is to reduce cost. I listen to Ed Schultz's show and for the last week I have been hearing nothing but this Margaret Flowers talk about how single payer will reduce cost. How?! By blindly paying the bills, where is the incentive? The thought that a government agent would have to determine if a treatment is worthy should be disturbing to most people.

My favorite part of Dr. Flower's statements on the radio is how great medicare works when it will be broke in 2017.

[AlNouveau]

Single payer, like Medicare, cost less to administer than do programs run by insurance companies. That's a fact. And it doesn't mean you have to give up you current health care coverage. You could continue to purchase health insurance if you want it, and can afford it. The only difference from our current system is that everyone would be covered, like it is with the rest of the industrialized world. Then we might start living as long as they do.

[cameraman502]

The reason that health care price go up with a third party like insurers is that it prevents a customer from negotiating a price with their providers(doctors). Would not giving the freedom, and more importantly the incentive be a more effective way of lower cost rather than increase the presence of third-party finance?

You haven't answered HOW medicare cost less to administer. Please I want to understand your point.

[cameraman502]

Also think about this as an aside. How can a country where child obesity can be called epidemic, much less an issue, really expect to have a long life expectancy. Why is health care commonly seen as a reason for this as oppose to the majority of american's lifestyle?

[ZombiesNTea]

Because there is no profit incentive, therefore, reducing costs to a minimum.

[cameraman502]

The point of making a profit is by attracting customers to provide you with the money to make said profit. The need to attract customers is more of a drive to keep cost low than any other force. A lost of profit incentive only gives carte blanche for those who can gain the gov contracts, which provided unavoidable corruption, to charge increasingly higher prices, as they will always be paid. In order to reduce cost, it will needed that the gov control all prices and salaries for the entire ind.

[grudgekeeper]

I'm not sure what to say about this. It just seems like the right thing to do. This is the type of moral issues that both parties should be backing and appears neither party is. This is the type of issue that makes both parties look bad. I cant beleive noone is backing it, we do really need to hear Obama's response on this issue.

[Susieshepherd]

People are dying and Baucasses statement is "we need more police"...fucking douch. My co-workers husband had a massive heart attack and their private insurance co. tried to deny a heart transplant (which he needed to live) til the CEO of her husbands co. got on the phone with the insurance co. ...then all of a sudden it was approved. Thx to Ed and all the other advocates who are not only fighting for what is right, but are fighting for human life

[mcmike1989]

This is very important, and should get more attention from the media. I do concur if Obama puts this to the side instead of addressing it, this will haunt him when he is trying to get re-elected.

[bnk384]

This is so important get more coverage.

[tonyrich300]

The democrats will be stupid if they ignore their constituents like this. If the continue like this, Obama will be a 1-term President

[jeffbw]

Big Ed scores Big! I'm sure somebody at NBC got a call from AHIP wondering how this was allowed to happen.

[paullers4lyfe]

good luck. both parties are wholly owned and operated by the monied interests. we need UHC and we need it now! no more giveaways to the insurance industry, enough is enough

[mxrss]

we need less goverment meddeling let the free market work, if you dont like your insurance then find one you do like. support the small guy not the big goverment, sorry I just dont trust the goverment to run this right, stick to what they are good at. Which is very little but still i digress. Fix the problem with tort reform. Get that frivilous law suits out of here!

[lava200]

The protester arrested was Kevin Zeese. A very brave guy!

[wiz9496]

@lava200 Brave? Stupid is more like it.