Single payer debate heats up: Don ’ t say I didn ’ t warn you

Why is single payer popping up now? The Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) was a sincere attempt by Democrats to write a bipartisan bill that would attract the support of moderate Republicans. It preserved the employer-based system of private insurance, added market-based approaches such as the insurance exchanges, and enforced personal responsibility through the individual mandate. The Republican leadership made a political decision to attack the bill rather than to support it, and the GOP-led Congress and now a GOP-led Administration have tried their best to undermine the law by spreading misinformation (death panels, government takeovers), defunding key aspects such as the risk corridors, and creating uncertainty (e.g., not committing to funding cost-sharing reductions). States have done their part by suing over the law’s constitutionality. I’ve warned since 2014 that if Obamacare fails or is repealed it will make single payer more likely. (See If Obamacare fails are we on to single payer? and One more way Obamacare may lead to single payer and Goodbye Obamacare? More like hello single payer!) Suddenly the political ground is shifting as leading Democrats embrace single payer. The Washington Post (The dam is breaking on Democrats’ embrace of single-payer) reports that there are four co-sponsors of a single-payer bill in the Senate. Max Baucus, former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and an Obamacare architect, has also come out in favor –so...
Source: Health Business Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Policy and politics Source Type: blogs