Universal Health Care?

A little rain today, and then back to a dry pattern for at least a week. We're about 30% below average rainfall for the month, but still 13% wetter on a rain year basis. Plenty of snow pack in the mountains at this point, so not much chance of drought this year in Western Oregon.

This week's Hood River Weather poll asks whether we should be moving towards a "single-payer" universal health care system. Our current health care payment system is an inefficient, expensive mix of employer-provided benefits (which most employers are shedding as fast as they can), Medicare, largely unaffordable individual plans. and a huge group of uninsured people, many of whom end up overwhelming emergency rooms or foregoing care entirely.

There is no perfect health care payment system. There are, however, more efficient ones. We are the only wealthy, industrialized country that hasn't figured out that universal health care coverage, with a single payer system, costs much less per capita and provides the same or better level of care. Probably not as timely care for non-critical procedures, but timely enough. And those folks who can afford to pay for more immediate non-critical care would be able to, either thru private payment, supplemental insurance, or medical tourism. Even the Federal General Accounting Office estimates that a single payer system would reduce administrative costs, contain medical costs more efficiently, and save hundreds of billions of dollars.

Unfortunately, there is little political will for such a system, and no public groundswell in that direction. No current presidential candidate endorses a single-payer system. It's too much of a leap from the current system. The insurance lobbies are too powerful, and the time-worn protest of "no socialized medicine!" is a favorite rallying cry of many who still have good affordable coverage themselves. But we already have "socialized medicine". Medicare on the national level, and "free" emergency room care on the local level.

My opinion? I have reasonably good medical coverage through my employer, I'm no fan of socialism, but I believe that universal single payer health coverage is the obvious economic choice, and the sooner the better.

And now, back to the weather. We made it thru winter, and spring is just around the corner...