Medicare Should Serve as a Model for Creating Single-Payer Health Care System, Opinion Piece Says, USA

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 14 Jun 2005 - 14:00 PDT

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Health insurance system "reformers will do best with a straight-forward, single-payer plan, which offers maximum savings and ... can easily be explained,"... New York Times columnist Paul Krugman writes. Krugman continues that "the time will soon be right for another try at universal coverage," and he supports a system similar to what Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) calls "Medicare for all." Such a slogan "reminds voters that America already has a highly successful, popular single-payer program, albeit only for the elderly," Krugman writes, adding that it also "shows that we're talking about government insurance, not government-provided health care." In addition, the slogan "makes it clear that, like Medicare, a U.S. national health insurance system would allow individuals with the means and inclinations to buy their own medical care," Krugman states. The "great advantage" to the single-payer system would be savings through lower administrative costs and fewer screenings for high-risk beneficiaries, according to Krugman. He concludes, "We need to do this one right," adding, "If reform fails again, we'll be on the way to a radically unequal society, in which all but the most affluent Americans face the constant risk of financial ruin and even premature death because they can't pay their medical bills" (Krugman, New York Times, 6/13).

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