Analysis by Wendell Potter: A single payer system for Vermont

For 18 years, Wendell Potter worked in the health insurance industry. Now's he's writing about it. In this video column, Potter looks at how Vermont is trying to create a single payer health care system. For more information on the interview, check out the full story at http://t.co/s6998kS

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• health care reform hrc
• wendell potter
• single payer system
• vermont
• analysis

[groam6666]

@gladystaca So what's wrong with U.S. HC. Insurance companies have a monopoly (you can only buy HC insurance from within your state). We are forbidden from importing drugs (pharmaceutical monopoly). The AMA restricts the supply of medical licenses (practitioner monopoly). What has PPACA done to address this? They cut medicare, raised taxes on prescription drugs, and the CBO already said premiums would rise by 15% by 2015. And this was heralded as a bill to make HC affordable?

[groam6666]

@gladystaca Yes, it is cheaper.

The average persons debt for HC related costs, is $5,000 when declaring bankruptcy according to the Health and Human Services. That's... quite low don't you think. The majority file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, meaning all of your assets, wages, etc cannot be touched by creditors. The debt is typically paid off in 4-6 months.

There are health insurance companies/risk pools that have accepted people with pre-existing conditions for a long time.

[gladystaca]

is that so? for the individual, a private plan is cheaper? there is always cost-sharing in administering healthcare and what we see in the U.S. is that a heavy burden is shouldered by the individuals/families independently buying plans. Until the PPACA reform, private insurance had lifetime maximums, arbitrary rescission practices, barred all pre-existing conditions (those most in need), & no limit on % of plan dollars spent on service vs ads -- hence 62% bankruptcies result from medical bills.

[groam6666]

Private insurance in Germany is cheaper than a lot of the government insurance plans and gives you greater coverage. To prevent people flocking to private health insurance, the government imposes restrictions, so that only the wealthy and business owners can get private insurance, while everyone else is forced into queues.

For profit insurance is cheaper, than government none profit insurance, and that's even excluding taxes. When you figure out why, then you will not want gov insurance.

[ins0mniakds]

Keep going! Don't worry, we are watching!