"BRING SINGLE PAYER TO THE TABLE!"
Advocates Speak Out at Senate Finance Committee Hearing
As industry insiders gather in Washington today in an attempt to derail the "public option" in President Obama's health reform plans, a bold move by single payer activists last week heats up the debate. In recent weeks, the Senate Committee on Finance, chaired by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), has hosted a series of round table discussions on health care reform.
Despite nominations by a wide range of organizations including the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, an individual espousing the single payer perspective has yet to be invited to any of the discussions. Even recent polls showing that as much as 60% of the American public supports a national single payer health system have not influenced Committee leadership. The National Council calls upon Mobilizer readers to urge Senator Baucus and members of the Senate Committee on Finance to bring the single payer perspective to the next round table discussion on Tuesday, May 12.
The "Baucus Eight"
On Tuesday, May 5, a small group of physicians and other health care professionals were removed from a Senate Finance Committee hearing on health care reform and arrested for insisting that the single payer perspective be represented in the round table discussion along with the perspectives of insurance companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers, other health care industry representatives, and advocacy organizations known to prefer reform alternatives other than single payer.
One by one, eight health care professionals rose from their seats in the audience and spoke until removed by Capitol police. Committee Chairman Baucus maintains that his "door is open" to all points of view, but refused to allow anyone from the group to join the discussion. No other member of the Committee spoke up on behalf of the detained health professionals. Past National Council Policy Symposium speaker and health care advocate Ralph Nader has called the activists the "Baucus Eight."
De-stigmatizing Single Payer Health Care
This past week's demonstration executed by the Baucus Eight has generated national media attention for the publicly-financed and privately-administered health care system desired by the majority of the American people. Although mainstream news sources initially mischaracterized the model as "government-run health care," subsequent coverage has helped to clarify that prevailing single payer models, such as the model outlined in HR 676, the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act, would maintain and even strengthen the private health care delivery system while eliminating unnecessary administrative overhead and streamlining health care financing through a single national entity.
One-third of Americans lack adequate health insurance; approximately 22,000 deaths are attributed annually to lack of health care coverage; and over half of personal bankruptcies are caused by medical debt. It is high time that the United States joined other "industrialized" nations in guaranteeing health care as a human right. H.R. 676, introduced by Representative John Conyers (D-MI), has earned the support of 75 House cosponsors and continues to gain momentum in Congress. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has introduced a similar piece of legislation (S. 703) that would implement a single payer system on a state-by-state basis.
Now is the time for Congress to act in the best interests of the majority of Americans by guaranteeing health care for all. The National Council challenges Mobilizer readers to join the Baucus Eight in insisting that single payer be part of the national dialogue about comprehensive health care reform. Only when people living in the park have the same health care as people on Park Avenue will everyone receive health care that is affordable, accessible, and of high quality.
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