Under a universal national single-payer health care system, we would pay less and receive more. The administrative waste of private insurance corporations (37 per cent of health dollars) would be redirected to patient care. The General Accounting Office of Congress has concluded that: "If the US were to shift to a system of universal coverage and a single payer plan ... the savings in administrative costs would be more than enough to offset the cost." According to Harvard researchers, the United States would save more than $200 billion dollars a year if we converted to a national universal single payer health care system. A single-payer system would allow the reorganization of existing health care expenditures toward substantial savings and broader coverage.
Businesses currently providing employment-based benefits would see their costs reduced. State and local governments would pay less because they would receive reimbursement for services provided to the previously uninsured, and because public programs would cease to be the dumping ground for high-risk patients and those rejected by HMO's when they become disabled and unemployed.
Most importantly, the people of America will gain the peace of mind of knowing that needed health care will always be available to them. No longer will people have to worry about facing financial disaster if they get seriously ill, get laid off their job, or are injured in an accident. No longer will anyone have to put off addressing serious health problems for lack of coverage. We will all receive the same benefits that people in all the other developed countries have enjoyed for a long time: better quality health care, more preventive services, less cost, predictable coverage, and hopefully improved health statistics.
A universal, comprehensive, national single-payer health plan will provide, with no increase in cost:
- Lifetime benefits for everyone
- No one will lose coverage for any reason
- No co-pays
- No deductibles
- No bill for service
- Freedom to choose whatever type of health provider you wish, providing a wide range of health care services in private offices and public institutions
- A publicly funded and administered health care program
- Health decision-making back in the hands of health providers and their patients, where it belongs
- Comprehensive benefits, as good or better than existing plans, including dental, vision, mental health care, audiology, hospice, long-term care, substance abuse treatment and prescription medication coverage.
- Emphasis on preventative health care to promote healthy behaviors and practices
- All licensed and/or certified health providers may participate, subject to standards of practice in their profession
- Health plan benefits are portable; they go wherever you go
- Primary and preventive care are priorities in the plan
- Greatly reduced paperwork for both patients and providers
- Providers receive fair and full reimbursement for their services in a timely manner
- Preservation of all health care services currently available
- Cost controls via streamlined administration, global health care budgets, national fee schedules, bulk purchases of drugs and medical equipment, and coordination of capital expenditures
- Hospitals can afford safe staffing levels for registered nurses
Establish national, state, and local Health Policy Boards consisting of members representing health consumers and providers to oversee and evaluate the performance of the system, expand access to care, and determine research priorities. All meetings of the boards shall be open to the public.
Establish a National Health Trust Fund and channel all current Federal payments for health care programs directly into the Fund, in addition to employers' and employees' health premium payments.
Funding to provide two years of salary benefits and retraining to people whose jobs are eliminated due to implementation of the new system.
Recognizing that human health is also affected by the health of our environment, the Maine Green Independent Party supports policies that would promote both human health and the health of our ecosystems:
Eliminate the emission of toxins that pollute the environment and harm our health
Improve identification and regulation of agricultural and industrial pollutants
Eliminate the use of herbicides
Mandate the labeling of all 'foods' that have been genetically engineered, irradiated, or to which chemical pesticides have been applied
Fund research into the cause, prevention, and treatment of disease, including the ways in which toxic chemicals cause disease
Implementation of a national single payer health care system would create 2.6 million jobs in the national economy; this is a net figure that takes into account jobs that would be lost. Indeed, establishing a single payer health care system could pull the economy out of its quagmire by creating new jobs doing meaningful work, thus solving two crises at once.
