Vermont Debates Universal Health Care
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-04-27/vermont-debates-universal-health-care
Vermont lawmakers have advanced a bill that would make it the first state to adopt universal health care. The governor, Peter Shumlin, has made this a key part of his agenda. Diane and her guests, including the governor, discuss the ongoing debate over strategies to expand health care access and reduce costs.
Guests
Julie Rovner
health policy correspondent for NPR, author of "Health Care Policy and Politics A-Z," and contributing editor for National Journal Daily.
Governor Peter Shumlin
Vermont's Democratic governor, leading efforts to create a single-payer health care system in the state.
Dr. Robert Zarr
pediatrician at the Unity Health Care, Inc., in Washington, DC, co-chair of the DC chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program, and adjunct professor at Children’s National Medical Center, George Washington University, and Georgetown University.
Michael Cannon
director of health policy studies, Cato Institute
Comments
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Perhaps the Universal Healthcare Option needs to be adopted one state at a time. I applaud Vermont in doing what must be done for the nation as a whole.
The right does not comprehend, nor does it want to, that until we address the health needs of all of our citiizens the nation is going to be in serious economic distress.
Healthcare for Profit was a notion that started with Richard Nixon and the "for profit" side of the equation has destroyed healthcare by placing it out of the hands of everyone who is not employed by a corporation or independently wealthy.
If you are wealthy you can have the best healtcare in the world, if not....
It's about time! I hope Vermont's Healthcare Plan serves as a role model for the nation in years to come. Healthcare for profit has destroyed the medical field. My wife, a Family Pracitce Physician, would strongly dissuade anybody from pursuing a degree in medicine with how things are now. "For Profit" medical insurance is NOT how to do it.
Please remind your guest from the CATO institute that insurance companies already either deny or ration many procedures (mental health services are one example) and ask him how is that different from government denying/rationing services in a single payer system?
This question is for the Vermont governor: "Could you be our president?"
Thanks, Chris
Should medical care really be done on a profit basis? For example, what is the pay for the CEOs of the major insurance companies?
Perhaps we should look at Singapore as an example of providing universal healthcare that is truly competitive. Singapore has both universal healthcare and private health insurance. It is considered to be one of the most efficient systems in the world because it uses only 3% of Singapore’s GDP, compared to the US, who uses 14.6% of its GDP on healthcare. The government of Singapore enforces strict price controls and gives mandatory discounts on healthcare. The Singapore government covers 80% of basic healthcare costs. The government requires private health insurers to list prices for services to make it competitive with the public healthcare system. Singapore has the lowest infant mortality rate in the world, as well as well as one of the highest life expectancy rates (4th highest in the world).
Dear Governor Peter Shumlin,
Thank you, thank you, sir for your stance that health care is a right - like clean air, clean water, and education, not a gift or only for those with money. BRAVO! I am a nurse, I work for the federal govmnt in Health care on Electronic Medical Records, and I fully agree with your stance. All must be covered - and all are a part of - life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Please continue with your sane and honest look at health care in America - we are the only ones without and we should be embarrassed about that.
Thank you, sir,
Janet Grennell
I've had my fill of these right wingers from America talking poorly about the Canadian system of health care. Nobody goes bankrupt. nobody gets turned away because of any condition and nobody pays for their health care out of pocket. I'm tired of these republicans lying about my Country.
Diane,
I sent the manuscript for my book, "Discovering the Cause and the Cure for America's Health Care Crisis" several weeks ago. It identifies the problems the governor is presenting and provides the answers for his new panel. Please review the manuscript.
Roger H Strube, MD
www.rogerhstrubemd.com
Everyone forgets that the fraud & waste in Medicare is predominantly in the program for Durable Medical Goods...the one program that has no oversight. Historically, all attempts to place oversight on this program have been repeatedly beaten back by Lobbyists. If it was subject to the rigorous auditing standards of the hospitals and nursing homes the fraud would evaporate.
Why is it wrong for people to 'make a profit off of our misery' when it applies to health care? Are we going to outlaw people profiting from the repair following the destruction of our homes from tornado or fire? Can no one profit from the repair of our cars after accidents? Shall no one profit from the clean up of the gulf oil spill? Why is health care singled out as the one service from which it seems unethical to profit from? If many Americans knowingly ELECT to engage in unhealthy behavior (smoking, high fat diet, lack of exercise) then seek health care services, why can't providers of those services profit? This show and Ms Rehm have such a socialist agenda.
Why do Canadians come to America and pay out of pocket for services?
Please have your panel comment on the difference between a single "buyer/purchaser" system (the taxpayer, aka the government) and a single "Payer" system (the payers = finacial managers/claims processors). A first step will be single purchaser administered by multiple private claims administrators.
Medicare fraud is apparently not a concern for Americans, as Floridians just elected a Governor who ran a business that has been clearly demonstrated to have made millions in profits from Medicare fraud.
Single payer system is the only way to go. If I am going have to pay at least I want to pay the Government, which yes is filled with waste and fraud, but so is any insurance company in this country. At least my money is going to people who, in theory if not in practice, work for me.
Go Governor! I can't say how refreshing it is to hear a voice of reason on this issue. I hope Vermont's single payer system is a huge success. The for-profit system is bankrupting this country while providing miserable results. The for-profit insurance propaganda machine is one to match - just read Wendell Potter's book "Deadly Spin."
Our health care system is in trouble because of the patient not the health care industry. Look at the huge waste for end of life care to keep people alive for a few months longer who are half dead already. Not to mention doctor visits for the most minor ailments and the demand from the patients and doctors for unnecessary tests and of course there is the self destructive behavior of obesity.
Julie Rovner,
Please review the manuscript is sent to Diane Rehm several weeks ago. It addresses all the issues being presented on this program and offers the solution. It would be a valuable resource for the Governor's panel as they design the Vermont system. More information is on my web site:
www.creativedesignforhealthcarereform.us
I submitted the manuscript for printing yesterday. It should be available within 2 to 3 weeks.
Roger H Strube, MD
www.rogerhstrubemd.com
Jim Davis, the country (minus the Tea party) is SOOOOOOO tired of hearing about socialism. There is no evil socialist conspiracy here or in the White House. If there were would the government be selling off ALL the shares in GM (for a profit mind you), would the government have required purchasing heath care from private corporations if it were socialist. The country is not in danger of "collapsing" into a socialist-communist state, so knock it off.
I am a U.S. citizen who lives in Germany. My husband and I have had medical procedures at a far cheaper cost than what we would pay in our own country. There is no insurance company in Germany that makes a profit from our illness, so it is more affordable to cover our own medical costs.
If you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything. I think it is just this basic.
Doctor's motivation to treat a patient should be the patient's well being - not what service a doctor can prescribe that will be most profitable to the doctor's practice. The current for-profit system has this profit motivator - so you can see the results are predictably poor. Nobody is saying that healthcare providers should not make a decent living.
I wish I lived in Vermont. Someone finally is getting it right.
Good health care from birth is the only way to lower future health care costs. Only by preventing the development of the chronic diseases and promoting a healthy lifestyle can we hope to change the rising cost paradigm.
Julie Ravner mentioned that rationing happens by those who are not insured. This carries little weight with those who oppose Universal Health Care because that suggests the "we have to pay for people's health care when they don't work." Please note that rationing HAPPENS FOR ALL OF US, including the insured b/c Insurance companies deny procedures and care all the time. How come this never comes up in the conversation. Health is rationed for all of us by insurance companies....
Governor Peter Shumlin,
I believe the book I have just finished fits the needs of your health care panel and will help folks understand what you are trying to do. The book is in the form of a memoir that leads the reader through the problems in medicine and administration and presents a solution that fits your views.
Please review my web site: www.creativedesignforhealthcarereform.us
Roger H Strube, MD
www.rogerhstrubemd.com
Finally some people who have read TR Reid's "The Healing of America" and actually talk about the research TR shares. The underlying deduction of his book is that no other modernized country in the world ALLOWS health care based on private insurance companies making profits off the back of sick people. Enough with the profits off of sick people. Thank you Diane.
Not needing insurance specialists in the doctor's office, not covering insurance co. overhead which tends to be significantly higher than Medicare and leaving out the forty percent profit margin for the insurance companies is how much saved? Fifty-five to sixty percent?
The Vermont approach does begin to make sense and will be the best proof that this will work here in the US. I am tired of the insurance companies making all the monies.
The Vermont approach does begin to make sense and will be the best proof that this will work here in the US. I am tired of the insurance companies making all the monies.
Why doesn’t the United States have universal health care as a right of citizenship? The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not guarantee access to health care as a right of citizenship. 28 industrialized nations have single payer universal health care systems, while 1 (Germany) has a multipayer universal health care system like President Clinton proposed for the United States.
We all have health care in the United States. I pay every month to have MORE health care.and that is my choice. The healthy 24 yr old I work with spends his extra money on a car note, he too has health care and that is his choice.