Dr. Kevin Kavanagh, a leading Kentucky advocate for transparency in health-care costs and  outcomes, writes in a recent commentary that Medicare-for-all might be the solution to our financing woes.

I support going to a single-not-for-profit payer system and eliminating for-profit health insurance companies. These unneeded middlemen must be eliminated if health care costs are to be controlled.

Twenty percent to 30 percent of the premium dollar goes for their profits and overhead.

A single-payer system could do it for 3 percent overhead — what our single-payer system for seniors does now. The Affordable Care Act (a misnomer if there ever was one) merely forces us to buy a private, inefficient, expensive product.

I am thankful for Gov. Steve Beshear’s Medicaid expansion, but his reliance on private (for the most part) companies to “manage” (read: “deny”) health care is robbing hospitals and other providers of rightful compensation and merely increasing the private companies’ profits.

Anthem, an Indiana-based insurer, recently announced record profits, which leave our rural facilities teetering on the brink of insolvency.

One only has to look at Auditor Adam Edelen’s recent in-depth report for verification of their poor financial health. Our people deserve better. It can be done. Medicare for all. Easy.

Ewell G. Scott, M.D.

Morehead

Letter in the Herald Leader.

On Saturday, May 30, 2015, KSPH activists distributed 600 flyers on single payer as they participated in the Louisville MS Walk.  The tiny, hot pink leaflet stated:

Forward to single payer health care

Drugs crucial for MS patients, originally costing $8,000 to $11,000, now cost about $60,000 per year.

While health care reform helped some, many still find essential drugs too costly or not on the formulary.

Last July, 300 patient advocacy groups protested to Health & Human Services that those with chronic illnesses still face barriers to care.

The way forward.    A bill in Congress, HR 676, Expanded & Improved Medicare for All, will provide care for everyone under a single payer, publicly funded system.  All medically necessary care including dental & drugs will be covered–and you choose your doctor.

No co-pays, no deductibles, no limited networks.  No worry about medical bills!  Monies now going to corporate profits will be available for care.

We invite you to learn more.  Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care meets 1^st & 3^rd Thursdays each month, 5:30 pm, Board Rm, Mezzanine, Louisville Free Public Library, 301 W. York.

KSPH offers free presentations on single payer.  Further info: www.kyhealthcare.org    www.pnhp.org

(502) 636-1551   nursenpo@aol.com

At right, Kay Tillow and Jim Harmer at the MS Walk.

KSPH is planning an event to celebrate Medicare’s 50th Birthday on Thursday. July 30, 2015.

Come to the KSPH meetings and be a part of making it happen!  The next meetings are Thursdays, June 4th and June 18th, 5:30 pm, Board Rm on the Mezzanine, Louisville Free Public Library, 301 York St.

At a single payer meeting are (L to R) Jill Harmer, Antonio Wilson, and Harriette Seiler.

Single Payer Health Care Back on the National Agenda

On February 3, 2015, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan, pictured below, introduced HR 676, Expanded and Improved Medicare for All, into the 114th Congress. He was joined by 44 initial cosponsors including Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky. Since then four additional representatives have signed on, Chaka Fattah of Pennsylvania, Zoe Lofgren of California, Joyce Beatty of Ohio, and Ted Lieu of California bringing the number up to 48.

You can see all the cosponsors of HR 676 here.

You can read HR 676 here.

Conyers’ Press Release on HR 676

PNHP News Release

America’s New Single Payer Majority by Rep. John Conyers

On January 19, 2015, Kentuckians for Single Payer Health Care participated in the caravan celebrating the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Photo by Ron Hargrove.

Also on the King Holiday, members of KSPH took part in a celebration at Shawnee Presbyterian Church, 101 South 44th Street, Louisville, KY. The Rev. Ron Robinson, Shawnee’s pastor, serves on the steering committee of KSPH. Sponsored jointly by the church and the group Sowers of Justice, the service and workshops commemorated Dr. King’s call for non-violence, equality, and economic equity.

Garrett Adams, MD, led a health care workshop, stressing the need for a single payer system that would cover all medically necessary care for everyone in our country. There is a bill in Congress, HR 676, the Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act, that would provide such coverage–cutting costs, reducing disparities and saving lives.

Workshop attendees shared insights and personal health care stories, agreeing that the current system remains inadequate. They indicated a wish to know more about single payer and suggested we continue our efforts to educate the public. In 1966, Dr. King referred to injustice in health care as “shocking and inhuman.” In 2015, he would undoubtedly remind us that there is still much work to be done.