Drs. Himmelstein and Wolfe discuss healthcare reform
Our series of interviews on the healthcare debate seems to be popular with readers, so we plan to keep giving you more. Since it has largely been ignored by the major media and most of the politicians haven’t been saying much about it, we’ve concentrated on presenting information on what we consider to be the very best option: a single-payer system.
We were not always in favor of such a route. Indeed, not that many years ago we feared all the rumored drawbacks of anything that hinted of “socialized medicine”—long lines, healthcare rationing, shortages of drugs and equipment. Gradually we came to realize that these nightmares were being manufacturered by the companies that stood to gain the most by perpetuating the current inequties: the pharmaceutical and insurance companies.
Once we began to examine the alternatives in an open-minded fashion, we found they weren’t so bad. In fact, now we are convinced that instead of paying almost twice as much per capital as the country with the second-highest healthcare costs for healthcare that is ranked 38th in the world by the World Health Organization (WHO) we might actually save money as a nation while vastly improving healthcare for all.
Your comments welcome
If you disagree with us, please post your comments accordingly. For that matter, feel free to post your comments if you agree. We welcome discussion on these issues. The only way we are going to get the best possible outcome is to decide for ourselves what is right and then tell the politicians responsible what they must do.
Unfortunately, the President has been backing away from the best solution. The Democratic Party is in its usual state of disarray, though there are a few who seem to see clearly what is the best option. And in what has been described by the Huffington Post as “an exquisite political irony,” 13 Republicans on the House Education and Labor Committee offered their support last week for an amendment that would allow states to set up single-payer health care systems. But don’t expect to see widespread Republican support for a single-payer system any time soon, despite the potential savings for our nation as a whole.
To see another of Bill Moyers’s excellent interviews on the subject of healthcare—in this case, an interview with Dr. David Himmelstein of Harvard and Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Case Western Reserve—just click the image above. Then please come back and post your comments.
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