Americans would benefit from single payer

By Patrick Meyer, M.D.
The Capital Times (Madison, Wis.), Letters, Feb. 29, 2016

I would like to tell Dave Zweifel that he hit the nail on the head with his recent column about dispensing with myths about Medicare for All.

I am a recently retired pediatrician and can attest to the terrible effects that our current system has on children and families. Obamacare may have been a step in the right direction, but it is too complicated and did not eliminate the insurance companies from the equation.

Our country pays twice as much as other developed countries for health care, yet the end result is poorer health outcomes and millions uninsured or underinsured. Until we remove the profit motive from the health care industry things will not change. The insurance companies are the primary problem, with their massive administrative costs and exorbitant CEO salaries.

Pharmaceutical companies need some regulation, and hospitals and doctors are not without fault. Eliminating these costs would pay for the program and insure everyone. Slightly higher taxes would be more than offset by lower health care costs for everyone.

I will continue to support a single payer health plan (l am a longtime member of Physicians for a National Health Program), but I am also realistic. The insurance/pharmaceutical lobbies spend millions, which unfortunately influence our politicians to do nothing. The American people need to stand up and be heard. Everyone would benefit. A majority of Americans, including physicians, support a single-payer plan, as does Bernie Sanders. Why not Congress?

Dr. Patrick Meyer resides in Middleton.

http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/mailbag/dr-patrick-meyer-americans-would-benefit-from-single-payer/article_2f93b16e-6728-59d1-bcf9-f261c34b5e5e.html

PNHP note: Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) is a nonpartisan educational organization. It neither supports nor opposes any candidates for public office.