We don’t have any benefit from including a corporate middle man.
By Tom Crofton
The Commoner Call (8/5/19)
I have been very frustrated by the ineffective talking points from single payer advocates and the outright disinformation from opponents. The recent democratic debates brought this frustration to a new level and unless we clear up the explanations we will see this effort go down in flames.
Typical good insurance, such as mine, attained through a collectively bargained union contract and, paid for by employers, costs at least $14,000 per year. As part of a total package, the workers choose after negotiations , how their package is divided between wages, a range of benefits, and union expenses for organizing and training. Any savings from a more efficient health plan would go to wages, contingent on a new contract.
Only Bernie was able to toss this information in, and he was talked-over by the moderator
So let’s see what this means
Many studies show that our health insurance in our nation costs twice as much as it needs to . To be conservative, let’s say my insurance should be $8,000 a year for my family. Given the same contract, my wages would go up $6,000 a year.
In Richland County, we have approximately 5,000 families. Assuming half of these families have decent insurance, and they spent the new wages locally, $15 million dollars would be inserted into the local economy. Economists calculate the multiplier effect in a region where new cash is inserted as a factor of 4-8 times. The economic impact in Richland County from single payer would be roughly $90 million dollars per year at the outset.
The expense of denying care and making profit for stockholders are the culprits in high insurance costs.
Rather than saying people will want to keep their employer-paid insurance, we would see that workers will gain greatly from junking it and joining together to make a better plan.
Insurance works because large groups temper high individual costs with those who have no cost. We all will need expensive care sometime. The largest group most able to handle the needs of each of us, is all of us. We don’t have any benefit from including a corporate middle man who skims profit off the top by denying services to the ill. Additional benefits will come from early diagnosis and a wellness approach that prevents serious diseases. Easy access for all is the key to a healthy, compassionate society.
We need health care, not corporate health insurance.
Those union plans being talked about can be the largest help to the transition. I’d like to see my union offer to split the savings between the employer and the worker. Not only would this be part of a responsible effort by workers to make their jobs competitive in a union-busting environment, it would demonstrate how quickly we can transition.