Benefits
Current Health-Care-Not-for-All System
compared to
Improved Medicare for All
| Current Health-Care-Not-for-All System Complicated, Bureaucratic, Expensive, Partial Coverage |
Improved Medicare for All via Single-Payer Health Care: Non-Profit, Simple, Efficient, Lower Cost, Full Coverage |
| Varying degree of (unknown) benefits – Variations among thousands of plans – Details of coverage are often unknown until the doctor, hospital, or patient calls the insurance company to ask for approval to get health care |
All medically-necessary care in one national plan Primary care; inpatient care; outpatient care; emergency care; prescription drugs; durable medical equipment; hearing services, long term care; palliative care; podiatric care; mental health services; dentistry; eye care; chiropractic care; substance abuse treatment |
Complex with Many Costs – Payment of taxes and expensive health insurance premiums – Expensive co-pays and deductibles – Percentage not covered by insurance – Health care bills after the lifetime limit is exceeded – Interest amount(s) during the payment of medical bills – Our federal and state taxes used to pay for-profit insurers: – Incentives to health insurance companies – Tax benefits to employers who provide health insurance – Medicaid & many other programs in 50 states, many run by for-profit companies |
Simple with Minimal Costs Costs The cost …. All family members get health care, because everyone is always covered. Drop in Costs – Low or no co-pays, no deductibles – Much lower drug prices (negotiations; bulk purchasing) – No limits – Dramatically lower health care costs – Higher household income due to the large drop in costs – More U.S. jobs via higher business profits |
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Financial, physical and emotional stress |
Peace of Mind The Peace of mind of … - No major medical bills, the cause for positive experiences - Health care for all with dignity; show card & get care. - Everybody In; Nobody Out. |
Insurance plan choices & health care restrictions - Yearly review & decision on which insurance plan(s) - Constant worry about the impact of your choice on the availability of care for your loved one(s) - HMO’s: specific physicians, specific hospitals - Restrictions: out-of-network, pre-existing conditions - Restrictions of care based on ability to pay - Wait Times, including infinite wait times for the uninsured |
Lifestyle choices and health care choices - New job or loss of job and always have health care - Any profession/employment choices - Leave of absence or early retirement to care for a relative - Selection of physicians, who will maintain their private practices, and selection of medical facilities - Minimal wait times via continued wait time (queue) management as demonstrated in & out of U.S. |
Many Payers - Over 1300 health insurance companies and an excessive number of government programs: federal, state, and private (total is difficult to determine) – Result: complex with many costs (above) |
Single-Payer = One-Payer - One non-profit public agency, accountable to the people - Best version of non-profit health insurance - Improved Medicare for All, no longer privatized - Result: simple with minimal costs (below) |
Basis: Profits Free-Market Principles - The only free-market high-income country with this basis is the United States – Assuring profits for investors – Result: astonishingly poor health: U.S. life expectancy 30th in the world (50th as per CIA); U.S. rank of 19th of 19 in minimizing deaths due to preventable diseases |
Basis: Caring Principle of Social Solidarity - All other free-market high-income countries have non-profit national health insurance - Assuring health care for all - Result: healthier society, including the workforce: - More people will be able to go to the doctor - More preventive & wellness care from physicians |
Very poor efficiency – About 69% estimated efficiency – About 31% spent on administrative functions Managed, influenced, and/or operated by many: – Over 1300 private insurance companies – Multiple federal government programs – Fifty states with their programs – Influence of corporate lobbyists – Large billing staffs in hospitals & physician offices – fund-raisers by friends, co-workers, relatives, charities |
Excellent efficiency – About 95% or higher estimated efficiency Managed by one public agency: - Insulated from the U.S. and state legislatures - Run by regional boards with people with appropriate backgrounds and expertise, not political appointees Special notes: Efficiency impacts physicians significantly: more job satisfaction, lower office overhead, more time with patients, more students wanting to be doctors. |
We need a health-care-for-all system:
Improved Medicare for All via single-payer health care.
Residents of other free-market countries pay less than half the cost (40%).
They get quality health care for their entire lives and live longer.
They have the peace of mind of knowing that they and their families get health care and have no major medical bills.
How to Help:
Sign Up to Stand Up for Single-Payer
to help get improved Medicare for All.
Be part of our unified voice to the U.S. Congress.
We receive monthly e-mail reminders and then print 1 pre-addressed letter, sign it and send it to 1 person: our U.S. Representative.
We can and will do this (Yes we can!)
Simple, efficient single-payer will support our health and well-being, instead of supporting the wasteful spending of our dollars on excessive government, over 1300 inefficient “middlemen” insurance companies plus the supporting, related bureaucracy that has grown from teh other two bureaucracies.
It is the only solution that eliminates unnecessary administrative activities plus reduces the bureaucracy itself and provides the benefits documented at this web page.
Additional Information
Read more about: “One non-profit, public agency, which is accountable to the people and insulated from the U.S. legislature.” …
“Health Care Meltdown* by Robert H. LeBow, MD, which is revised and updated by C. Rocky White, MD. for the 2007 edition; p. 271.
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