PNHP Logo

| SITE MAP | ABOUT PNHP | CONTACT US | LINKS

NAVIGATION PNHP RESOURCES
Posted on September 14, 2009

Experience argues for "Medicare for All"

PRINT PAGE
EN ESPAÑOL

By Lara Wright, M.D.
Guest Commentary
Contra Costa Times
09/12/2009

I AM a family physician who has firsthand experience about the need for health insurance reform. In 1999, after completing a residency in family practice, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Fortunately, I had use COBRA to continue my health benefits for 18 months. When my diagnosis was made, I still had health insurance, as well as supportive family, friends and colleagues who worked in health care.

Even with so much help, I experienced much difficulty navigating the health insurance system. As someone with a history of a brain tumor, my options for insurance after my COBRA coverage expired were minimal and expensive. Many of the options would cover all medical problems except those relating to the brain tumor.

The difficulties with health insurance compounded the stress for me and my family in dealing with treatment of and recovery from my brain tumor.

During the next few years, I worked as a patient advocate for a health insurance plan. In that job, I sometimes heard patients referred to as “product lines,” a surprising and disturbing experience.

Now, 10 years later, I again work as a doctor. The prognosis from my rehabilitation physician immediately after my surgery included a lifetime of permanent disability. Thankfully, I have far exceeded the prognosis of my physician. Instead of receiving benefits, I am able to work, treat patients and pay taxes.

I work in a county clinic, where I see patients who are faced with the difficult decision to pay for rent and food for their families, or pay for their health care. Many are unable to afford health insurance and risk running up hospital bills for emergency care that will drive them into debt and possibly into bankruptcy.

A recent study shows that more than half of personal bankruptcies are linked to medical bills, and 75 percent of people filing those bankruptcies had health insurance when they got sick.

The insight into my patients’ experiences with illness combined with my own experiences as a patient and patient advocate give me a unique perspective on our medical and insurance systems.

My experiences have led me to realize that the best solution is single-payer health care, an improved Medicare for All. This alternative has been largely neglected in the present health reform debate.

The California Senate and Assembly have twice passed a single-payer health insurance plan, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it both times. On the national front, HR 676 and SB 703 are two bills in the U.S. House and Senate that include single-payer health insurance plans, funded by the government but delivered through the existing private and public hospital system.

A recent study showed that 59 percent of physicians now support a national health insurance program. Such a system would meet their patients’ needs best, as well as eliminate many of the wasteful administrative costs with the current private health insurance industry. Moving to a single-payer system would enable our nation to save $400 billion annually, enough to provide comprehensive, quality care to all.

Critics say single-payer health insurance is socialized medicine. Not so, single-payer is insurance for everyone. A good example of socialized medicine is the Veterans Affairs: hospitals are owned by the government and doctors and nurses are on the federal payroll.

Under single-payer, however, doctors and hospitals remain largely private. You go to whichever doctor or hospital you choose. Instead of private insurers, a nonprofit government agency pays all the bills, similar to how traditional Medicare operates today. Private insurance includes wasteful administrative costs, sometimes up to 20-30 percent, a significant portion of which is spent to deny care that is not covered and decide who will make for a profitable consumer, or “product line.”

The United States is the only developed country without a national health insurance plan. The U.S. ranks number 29 in infant mortality and number 30 in expected life span among countries in the world, while far outspending all other countries.

We desperately need real health insurance reform. The best option is single-payer Medicare for All.


Wright is a member of Physicians for a National Health Program (www.pnhp.org), an organization of 17,000 doctors and health professionals who support single-payer national health insurance. She practices in Contra Costa County.