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www.results.org / Domestic Action Sheet
National Health Program
Urge Congress to Enact a National Health Program
Take Action! Urge Congress to Co-Sponsor Single-Payer Legislation
1. Introduce yourself as a RESULTS activist and a constituent committed to quality, affordable health care for everyone in the U.S.2. Remind them that 50 million Americans have no health insurance and millions more are underinsured, unable to get the care they need.
3. Point out that despite spending twice as much per person on health care as other industrialized countries, the U.S. ranks near the bottom in health outcomes, including child mortality and life expectancy. Much of this is due to our patchwork system of health care that relies on private and employer-based insurance.
4. Assert that a national health program would solve these problems by lowering costs, improving quality, and providing health care to everyone in the U.S. For example, Medicare, which based on a single-payer health model, has only a fraction of the administrative costs that private health insurance programs do.
5. The Affordable Care Act (i.e. health reform) is expected to reduce the number of uninsured people in the U.S. by 32 million by 2020. This is an excellent start but millions will still be uninsured. The ACA also leaves the majority of Americans still tied to a system of private, employer-based insurance.
6. Urge your members of Congress to build on the passage of the Affordable Care Act by supporting a Medicare-for-All system of health care. Specifically, urge Representatives to cosponsor H.R.676 and urge Senators to talk to leadership about introducing companion single-payer legislation. These bills would create a publicly financed, privately delivered national health program.
Note: To find contact information, including telephone numbers and addresses for congressional offices and the names of the health staffer, visit the Take Action Now page of the RESULTS website (www.results.org), where you can also send e-mails directly to your senators and representatives. For directory assistance, you can contact the U.S. Capitol Switchboardat (202) 224-3121.
What is a National Health Program?
A national health program, or “single-payer” model, is a system in which a single public or quasi-public agency organizes health financing, while delivery of care remains largely private. In other words, patients would go to the doctor just as they do today, only a government entity and not private insurance, would pay the bill.
Under a single-payer system, all Americans would be covered for all medically necessary services, including doctor visits, hospital stays, long-term care, mental health, dental, vision, prescription drug and medical supply costs. Patients would regain free choice of doctor and hospital, and doctors would regain autonomy over patient care. Physicians would be paid for services provided or would receive a salary from their hospital or nonprofit HMO/group practice. Hospitals would receive a global budget for operating expenses. Health facilities and expensive equipment purchases would be managed by regional health planning boards.
The system would be financed largely by eliminating private insurers and recapturing their administrative waste, estimated to be $350 billion per year. Modest new taxes would replace premiums and out-of-pocket payments currently paid by individuals and businesses. Costs would be controlled through negotiated fees, global budgeting and bulk purchasing.
Single Payer Legislation Currently in Congress
The Expanded & Improved Medicare for All Act (H.R.676) has been introduced by Rep. Conyers (D-MI-14). This bill would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care system, by building upon the existing Medicare program. The government will finance coverage, while private providers will continue to deliver care. Such a program will maintain patients’ freedom to choose physicians and hospitals. This bill requires training and job placement to those who lose jobs due to reduced administration and elimination of the private insurance sector.
Currently, families spend roughly $4,200 per year on health care. H.R.676 is estimated to cost families $2,700 per year for all their health costs. Businesses will also pay less. H.R.676 is estimated to cost businesses $2,700 per employee for all health costs, as opposed to the $10.944 per year they currently pay for family coverage.
No companion bill has been in introduced in the Senate in the 112th Congress. In the 111th Congress, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the American Health Security Act of 2009 (S.703), which would have created a national program but administered by the states. We urge the Senate to introduce single-payer legislation as soon as possible.