This past Sunday on ABC News This Week, respected, conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks made a remarkable comment: “Well, I wouldn’t mind a single payer,” he said. “Frankly I prefer a single payer [health care system] to what we have now, because that would actually control costs.” Watch the video (approximately -10:20).
This is an amazing admission from someone who represents the conservative point of view. And it’s what we have been saying all along: Single payer is the only way to not only control the skyrocketing costs of health care, but also to deliver quality care to 100% of the population while saving money for families, businesses, and government.
A single payer system eliminates the wasted 30 cents of every premium dollar that goes to private insurance administrative paperwork, marketing, executive salaries, and profits. The savings that would accrue would provide more than enough money to cover everyone with comprehensive coverage that includes medical, dental, prescriptions, mental health, diagnostics, and much more while preserving the freedom to choose any doctor, hospital or clinic.
As the expert blogger for the Physicians for a National Health Program, Don McCanne, MD, says: “Single payer helps get people the care they need while controlling costs.” McCanne’s “Quote-of-the-Day” blogs are an important source of information about single payer.
