I hear many of my progressive friends say that "obviously what we need is a single payer." That could work, but it is definitely not a sure thing. Overall what we want most is universal access to healthcare at a cost that is affordable. Why, some may ask, does it need to be affordable? Why can't it just be free, like in Canada? That's a wonderful thought, sort of. It also ignores the big truth that healthcare is like any other resource and is not free. It is always paid for by all of us. The difference between a single payer and multiple public and private payers, which we have now, is the degree to which we feel the pain of paying for it. Healthcare costs are paid by our employers, and thus from our wages, our taxes and directly from our purses in the forms of premiums and copays. There are problems with universal access to healthcare, too. As a nation of people with various values, it is probably safe to say that most of us want sick people to be able to go ...
The cost of health care in the US is higher than anywhere else in the world, and yet we are not healthier than our peer nations. In fact, in terms of such measures as infant mortality and life span, we don't measure up. Why is this? Many people involved in providing or receiving care have some pretty good ideas about what costs so much, and what we can do to reduce costs and improve quality. Sharing these stories is an important step in creating affordable universal health care.