The latest in the Medicare update.
In September 2017, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the legislation ‘Medicare for all’, which would enroll all American into the nation’s Medicare program within four years. Senator Sanders, the Vermont independent, argues that his proposal would create a system that ‘works not just for millionaires and billionaires, but for all of us.’
While there are many different views of this legislation, there seems to be a strong opposition to it.
A small number of countries actually have single-payer systems. Most of which feature some role for private-sector insurance companies and providers. Take the United Kingdom – it employs providers in its National Health Services (NHS), but it also has a parallel private payment system. In countries like Canada, private corporations provide insurance for services that fall outside of government guarantees.
Single-payer countries have also failed to control rising health care costs. This is particularly important to note since Sander’s proposal was released without a cost estimate or financing plan. From 1990 to 2012, the United States’ rate of health care cost growth was below that of many countries, including Japan and Britain. In 2015, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned that rising health care costs across all countries were unsustainable.
Single-payer systems may not produce a better quality of care. Although the States may rank poorly on a broad number of public health measures and outcomes, it scores highly on different measures, including innovation, patient-centered care, and preventative health. The American health system excels in cancer care, too. While all systems made trade-offs when it comes to allocating health care resources, we look to balance the cost of quality care and universal access.
Maybe because Sander’s plan sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
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