Why Massachusetts Needs a Single-Payer Health Care System

2013 was a great year for patients in Massachusetts. Over 98% of us were covered by health insurance and able to benefit from the marvels of modern medicine. At the same time, we spent an astonishing 41% of our state’s budget last year on health care. By 2020, the state’s Executive Office for Administration and Finance predicts health care costs to grow to a whopping 50% of the state’s budget! Funding for schools, public transportation, and other social services will have to somehow be squeezed out of the remaining half of the money.

Chapter 224, a healthcare cost-containment law passed in 2012, is a step in the right direction, but many fear it will not do enough to alter our current spending trajectory. Faced with the same challenge of controlling health care costs while maintaining universal coverage, most other developed nations in the world have already adopted “single-payer health care.”

A single-payer health care system eliminates private health insurance companies in order to put all patients in a single, publicly-financed risk pool. “Medicare for All” is how many envision it functioning in the United States. However, even though doctors and hospitals would remain as private entities, many still fear such a proposal to be a “government takeover” of health care.

History has shown us, however, that “government takeovers” are not always a bad thing. Prior to the 1850s, municipal fire departments did not exist in the United States. Private firefighting companies were tasked with only protecting buildings displaying prominent fire insurance marks. Without fire insurance, unlucky homeowners were left to try to save their burning property on their own. Fortunately, public pressure eventually swayed the majority of cities and towns across America to establish the first public fire departments. Today, we can sleep soundly at night, because we know that Melrose Firefighters will be at our door in a moment’s notice should we need them.

Why should we not have that same peace of mind when it comes to health care? With everyone in a single insurance pool in our state, the balance of power would shift back to the patients. Administrative costs would be minimized and the amount of money allocated for direct patient care would be maximized.

As an added bonus, businesses would be free to use money that they currently spend on their employees’ health insurance plans to hire new workers or pass the savings on to their customers. Our current employer-sponsored health insurance system is a relic from the 1940s. It is time for our state to show the rest of the country how well a 21st century single-payer system can work.

Jason Lewis continues to be a strong proponent for single-payer health care in Massachusetts; please consider voting for him on April 1. In addition, only one gubernatorial candidate has promised to fight for single-payer health care; his name is Don Berwick. Please consider supporting Don at the Convention and this fall in the Primary.

Note: This column was heavily influenced by an excellent 2009 piece from Nick Kristof. In addition, Mass-Care’s website has a great comprehensive FAQ section about single-payer that I would recommend.