Americans might get single-payer health care after all, but it probably won’t come from Washington. Apparently, the health insurance lobby is too mighty and the public too gullible. Even President Obama at the peak of his popularity couldn’t beat such odds. He had to settle for Obamacare.
Bernie Sanders might twist Hillary’s arm and get a single-payer proposal into the Democratic platform, but that’s all he is likely to get – for now, anyway. Hilary has promised to do her best to fix Obamacare but she balks at taking on the powers-that-be in another universal health care battle. Been there, done that. Remember?
The health insurance industry stands to lose billions of dollars. And they are pepared to spend millions protecting their gravy train.
Still, there’s a glimmer of hope that sanity will prevail.
Individual states might start introducing single-payer health programs, and the trend could eventually spread across the country.
Yes, I know, Vermont backed away from its plan to introduce a single-payer program. Several other states, such as California, Massachusetts, Hawaii and New York, also have come up short in their single-payer efforts.
The big stumbling block, of course, is taxes. Health care, especially in America, is not cheap. And somebody is going to have to foot the bill. Nobody seems willing to do that, even though the tax bill would arguably end up costing less than private health care.
Encouragingly, though, the single-payer movement is still alive. Colorado is considering a Medicare-for-all kind of plan. Voters in that state will decide in November whether to adopt a program that mirrors Bernie’s nationwide proposal.
Obviously, such a plan is workable despite the obstacles. It works very well in Canada, for example. Perhaps Colorado will succeed where other states have failed.
And if the Democrats win in November, they could offer federal grants to make it easier for states to give their residents free health care.
Imagine that. America would at last do what so many other civilized countries do – provide health care as a right to all of its citizens.
