Link CORRECTION: http://www.pnhp.org/facts/single_payer_resources.php
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "do.rflex" <do.rf...@...> wrote: > > > > Single-payer national health insurance is a system in which a single public > or quasi-public agency organizes health financing, but delivery of care > remains largely private. > > Currently, the U.S. health care system is outrageously expensive, yet > inadequate. Despite spending more than twice as much as the rest of the > industrialized nations ($7,129 per capita), the United States performs poorly > in comparison on major health indicators such as life expectancy, infant > mortality and immunization rates. > > Moreover, the other advanced nations provide comprehensive coverage to their > entire populations, while the U.S. leaves 45.7 million completely uninsured > and millions more inadequately covered. > > The reason we spend more and get less than the rest of the world is because > we have a patchwork system of for-profit payers. > > Private insurers necessarily waste health dollars on things that have nothing > to do with care: overhead, underwriting, billing, sales and marketing > departments as well as huge profits and exorbitant executive pay. Doctors and > hospitals must maintain costly administrative staffs to deal with the > bureaucracy. > > Combined, this needless administration consumes one-third (31 percent) of > Americans' health dollars. > > Single-payer financing is the only way to recapture this wasted money. The > potential savings on paperwork, more than $350 billion per year, are enough > to provide comprehensive coverage to everyone without paying any more than we > already do. > > Under a single-payer system, all Americans would be covered for all medically > necessary services, including: doctor, hospital, preventive, long-term care, > mental health, reproductive health care, dental, vision, prescription drug > and medical supply costs. > > Patients would regain free choice of doctor and hospital, and doctors would > regain autonomy over patient care. > > Physicians would be paid fee-for-service according to a negotiated formulary > or receive salary from a hospital or nonprofit HMO / group practice. > Hospitals would receive a global budget for operating expenses. Health > facilities and expensive equipment purchases would be managed by regional > health planning boards. > > A single-payer system would be financed by eliminating private insurers and > recapturing their administrative waste. > > Modest new taxes would replace premiums and out-of-pocket payments currently > paid by individuals and business. Costs would be controlled through > negotiated fees, global budgeting and bulk purchasing. > > ~~ Physicians for a National Health Program > Much more at link: ttp://www.pnhp.org/facts/single_payer_resources.php >
