In November, the Vermont Medical Society passed a resolution expressing its support for universal access to high quality health care through a single-payer national health program. On Dec. 10, the Congressional Budget Office reported that a single-payer health care system could cover everyone yet cost $650 billion less per year.
The Courier Journal reported on the impact of systemic racism on the health of African Americans. The 12 years of life lost to residents in the West End points to the dire need for quick and effective action. The solutions explored omit the most decisive one — the need for every person to have physicians of their choice and all necessary health care, free at the point of service.
Until age 65, Black people are 50% more likely to be uninsured than white people. Life expectancy at birth is 3.5 years shorter for Black people. And 86% of the difference in life expectancy is due to conditions that respond to medical treatment and prevention. Mortality rates quickly match across races after age 65 when everyone is covered by Medicare.
Getting everyone covered is vital — not a complete solution but a necessary foundation to tackle the problem.
The passage of Medicare in 1965 eliminated segregation in hospitals and helped end racial disparities for seniors. A universal, not-for-profit, single-payer system — an improved Medicare for all — will save millions of lives.
In Kentucky, it can happen that a senior is denied a Medicare supplement (Medigap) insurance policy, or is charged more for such a policy, because of a pre-existing condition. Such discrimination isn’t right and should be illegal. In fact, four other states have passed laws that do not allow such practices. We must do the same.
Write, call, email, tweet your representative urging her/him to co-sponsor HB 97 which will make such discrimination unlawful in Kentucky.
Then ask your senator to introduce or co-sponsor HB 97 in the senate.
(HB 97 was introduced into the KY House on Jan. 5, 2021, by Rep. Tom Burch. It was formerly BR 483.)
The Vermont Medical Society (VMS) overwhelmingly endorsed a resolution supporting a single-payer national health program, also known as Medicare for All, at its annual meeting on Saturday, Nov. 7.
The VMS, which represents 2,400 Vermont physicians and physician assistants, is only the second state medical society in the U.S. after Hawaii to formally endorse a national single-payer health care program.
The VMS resolution was introduced by Dr. Jane Katz Field, a pediatrician and vice president of the Vermont chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program (VTPNHP).
“The need for universal single-payer health care has never been more urgent,” said Dr. Katz Field. “Thirty million Americans were already uninsured before the COVID-19 pandemic, and millions more continue to lose coverage as they lose their jobs. Today the Vermont Medical Society recognizes the need to move away from a broken health system that ties health care to employment, and towards a system of equitable and universal coverage.”
Support of a single-payer, national health program
As adopted at the VMS Annual Meeting on November 7, 2020
BE IT RESOLVED that the Vermont Medical Society express its support for universal access to comprehensive, affordable, high-quality health care through a single-payer national health program; and be it further
RESOLVED that the Vermont Medical Society will support a national health program provided it meets these core criteria and principles:
a) Promotes universal, equitable coverage for all US residents (regardless of immigration status);
b) Provides comprehensive and high quality coverage for all medically necessary or appropriate services, including inpatient and outpatient hospital care, primary and preventive care, long-term care, mental health and substance use disorder treatment, dental, vision, audiology, prescription drug and medical devices, comprehensive reproductive care (including maternity and newborn care, and abortion),
c) Prioritizes affordability for all, including: no cost sharing ( no premiums, copays or deductibles), a ban on investor-owned health care facilities, and prescription drug prices to be negotiated directly with manufacturers;
d) Reimburses physicians and health care practitioners in amounts that are sufficient, fair, predictable, transparent and sustainable, while incentivizing primary care;
e) Allows for collective participation by physicians and other practitioners in negotiating rates and program policies;
f) Promotes global operating budgets for hospitals, nursing homes and other providers. Continues to move away from fee-for-service reimbursement models to more flexible payment models that incentivize better outcomes and more coordinated care;
g) Allocates capital funds for hospitals separately from operating budgets;
h) Eliminates the role of private health insurance companies, thereby greatly reducing administrative costs and burdens on clinicians;
i) Allocates funding for graduate medical education that assures adequate supply of generalists and specialists
j) Reforms medical school costs to reduce the amount of debt recent graduates face;
k) Protects the rights of healthcare and insurance workers with guaranteed retraining and job placement;
l) Provides high quality software (EMRs) developed in public sector and provided free to all practitioners;
m) Creates a legal environment that fosters high quality patient care and relieves clinicians from practicing defensive medicine; and
n) Is funded through a publicly financed system, based on combining administrative savings and the current sources of public funding, with modest new taxes based on individual’s ability to pay
Christine Perlin-Gump, Louisville activist for peace and social justice, passed away on November 19, 2020. She is survived by her husband Michael, her son Max of Lexington, and her daughter Rina of Louisville. Christine loved her job as interpreter and attended classes every day to assist Spanish-speaking students in understanding and communicating.
Several years ago Christine joined Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care, enthusiastically jumping into the work to bring the struggle to the broader public. She was elected to leadership as a member of the KSPH steering committee. She led power-point presentations to teach single payer in every venue possible–even once in a noisy bar. She rode her bike to dozens of festivals where she staffed booths, explained the issues endlessly, and persuaded people to sign petitions. Christine was courageous, energetic, full of fun, and creative. She dressed up in Irish attire to help carry the banner in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, stuffed endless envelopes, and led educational discussions.
Christine Perlin speaking at the demonstration at Humana.
In 2018, Christine wrote, produced, and directed a health care skit that was performed on the sidewalk in front of the Humana Headquarters in downtown Louisville.
When Kentuckians sat-in at the office of Senator Mitch McConnell to stop further destruction of health care, Christine was there, proudly demanding health care justice and ending up with a citation from Homeland Security that accused her and others of “failure to comply.”
Christine was not afraid to take a stand. Her inspiration and work will continue in those she touched. Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care will honor her memory.
The notice in the Courier-Journal is at this link.
Those who sat-in for health care at the office of Senator Mitch McConnell. Christine in on the right in the front row.
As the November election nears, television viewers across Kentucky are subjected to dueling campaign ads approved by Sen. Mitch McConnell and Amy McGrath. For voters, health care is a crucial issue, especially due to the spread of COVID-19, job loss and threats to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). While the need for care and coverage has escalated, “ability to pay” remains a barrier. for the insured, the costs of premiums, deductibles and prescriptions are rising.
Harriette Seiler, Secretary, Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care
Ironically, while sniping at each other, our Kentucky senatorial candidates reveal they agree on the path to meaningful reform. Each cites the other’s past comments in favor of health care for all. Amy refers to a 1990 clip of Mitch saying he will “make sure healh care is available to all Kentucky families.” A 2020 McConnell ad features Amy favoring “single payer.” Obviously, each candidate understands what sort of health reform legislation our country needs.
I am a member of Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care, which does not endorse candidates. I urge Mitch and Amy to study the systems of other advanced democracies, to listen to common sense and conscience, to advocate for universal single-payer Medicare for All.
In a television ad repeated incessantly, 60’s quarterback star Joe Namath reads his lines to promote the Medicare Coverage Helpline. “Are you getting all the benefits you deserve?” He ticks off the new benefits. You may be able to lower your out of pocket costs and get extra benefit now, he says.
The ad announces that the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has officially authorized new benefits that Medicare Advantage Plans may include. “One simple call gives you free, professional assistance to help you get more benefits and save money,” says Namath. It sounds like a public service announcement from Medicare.
But it isn’t. It’s a pitch to sign up in the privatized, for-profit Medicare Advantage plans—and it’s a scam. It is true that a person may be able to lower monthly costs by enrolling in one of these plans. That’s a powerful incentive in a time when the majority of seniors live on tight budgets, many just an inch from disaster. The laws and regulations allow these insurance companies to lure seniors away from traditional Medicare, and Congresspersons of both parties should be held responsible.
Two mayors have announced an effort to get the nation’s mayors to sign on to support Medicare for All. Here is the story of the launch by Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia.
“Health care is a human right,” Garcia said in the release. “I’ve been supporting a single payer system in our state for many years because of the millions of people uninsured or underinsured. It’s time for Medicare for All.”
Mayor Robert Garcia of Long Beach
Garcia was joined by the Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf:
“The clearest lesson from the COVID-19 crisis is that healthcare must be a right for all — and not a path to bankruptcy and deeper racial disparities,” Schaaf said in the release. “We’re mobilizing local leaders to build a national movement so the next Congress will adopt legislation that brings healthcare access to all.”
It would be meaningful if some Kentucky mayors would sign on to this. Please ask your mayor to join in this effort.
Remarks at Virtual Presentation (ZOOM) to Secretary Eric Friedlander, Carrie Banahan, and Jacquelyne Richardson on Aug. 25, 2020
Garrett Adams, M.D., M.P.H.
We are proud of your leadership in the pandemic. Thank you.
Your recent comments regarding the disproportionate rates of cases and the effects of Covid-19 on Black and Brown Kentuckians again reflect your wisdom, your humanity and concern for others.
You said:
“My commitment today is … to begin an effort to cover 100 percent of individuals in our … African American communities, everybody…We are going to be putting dollars behind it and we’re going to have a multi-faceted campaign to do it… it’s important because COVID-19 has shown what can happen when you don’t have coverage…This is just a first commitment and making up for that inequality that Dr. King said was the most severe, inequality in health care…I want to eventually make sure there’s coverage for everybody out there, but this is the time and this is our commitment and we’re going to make it happen.” NPR.org 6/9/20.
We honor your commitment and we’re here today to help us move forward together to achieve that goal. Thank you for the opportunity to meet with you and to open this dialog. We believe the only way to accomplish your vision of 100% health insurance coverage of individuals in … African-American communities is with a single payer national health insurance plan.
I have often thought about the similarity between your daily Covid-19 encouragement to Kentuckians, “We’ll get through this. We’ll get through this together.” and the Single Payer mantra, which is, “Everybody in, Nobody out.”
Seventeen years ago this month, at my desk at the Louisville Jefferson County Metro Health Department I read an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, entitled, The Physician’s Proposal for a National Health Plan. Here is an abbreviated version of the proposal.
A Physicians’ Proposal for Single-Payer Health Care Reform
The plan removes all financial barriers to medical care.
Saves enough on administrative overhead to provide comprehensive coverage to the uninsured and to upgrade coverage for everyone else, thus requiring no increase in total health spending.
Puts in place effective mechanisms to control costs, lowering the rate of medical inflation and making the health system sustainable for future generations.
Restores free choice of clinician and hospital to all Americans.
Every resident of the U.S., including all immigrants, is covered for all necessary medical care.
National Health Program (NHP) card entitles patients to care at any hospital or doctor’s office.
Provides coverage for outpatient and inpatient medical care as well as rehabilitation, mental health and long-term care, dental services, and prescription drugs.
Improves on traditional Medicare’s benefits and expands coverage to all Americans.
Eliminates premiums, co-pays, deductibles, and co-insurance.
Is federally financed (like Medicare) and administered by federal, state and regional boards. Private insurance that duplicates NHP coverage is prohibited.
The Initial increase in government costs is fully offset by savings in premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
Hospitals and other health facilities will be on a budget. Most remain privately owned and operated, receiving an annual “global” lump sum budget from the NHP to cover all operating costs.
Physicians are paid based on a simple fee schedule covering all patients or by salary
Medications purchased wholesale.
It is paid for by combining current government health spending into a single fund with modest new progressive taxes fully offset by reductions in premiums and out-of-pocket spending
(www.pnhp.org – Am. J. Public Health, June, 2018)
At the end of the article there was an online option to endorse the plan and join PNHP, a data-driven organization of physicians and health professionals who educate and advocate for Single Payer national health insurance. I joined 8,000 fellow physicians. Today there are 23,000 and the majority of American doctors support Single Payer as well as leading physician specialty organizations.
Recently the AMA cut ties with an anti-single payer lobbying group as did the American College of Radiology.
In January the nation’s largest medical specialty society, the American College of Physicians (ACP), announced its endorsement of Medicare for All. On Aug. 12, 2020 the Society of General Internal Medicine officially endorsed that support and committed to advocate for universal health care coverage.
The majority of Americans favor Medicare for All. Although there are no specific Kentucky polls, evidence is building that Kentuckians favor the reform: City Council resolutions, and Democratic Club endorsements, a Resolution in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 2007. Recently two Kentucky candidates for US Senate ran on single payer platforms. One of the candidates was endorsed by both leading newspapers in the state and came close to winning the Primary.
Single Payer is the only plan that will cut through the wasteful bureaucracy of our current system and actually provide health care for all. A single payer health plan will do exactly what you want it to do. It will level the playing field for all Kentuckians and put us on the road to equality and dignity for all. We are hoping that you and your administration will commit to a period of study and hopefully, support of a national single payer health care plan.
