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Are you or someone you know uninsured?
What Single-Payer Advocates Stand For
What Are the Problems?
The U.S. spends about twice as much on health care per person compared to all other developed countries. Yet our life expectancy is lower, our infant mortality higher, and our overall health poorer. Health care in the U.S. is rationed by the ability to pay for it. More than 45,000 Americans die each year because they lack health insurance. Illness and unpaid medical bills account for over 62% of all bankruptcies. Shockingly, about 78% of those medical bankruptcies were for people who had health insurance at the time they got sick. Insurance companies act as costly middlemen and unlicensed health providers, adding little value to the system but profiting from it immensely. Currently, 31% of every healthcare dollar is spent on costs that have nothing to do with health care. We strongly believe that it
is morally wrong to allow other Americans to suffer or die because they cannot afford to pay for health care. No other industrialized nation allows this to happen to their citizens. Neither should we.
What is Single Payer?
Single payer, an improved "Medicare for All", is publicly funded and privately delivered health care. It is a system in which a single public or quasi-public agency organizes health financing, but delivery of care remains largely private. This is similar to how Medicare works in this country. Doctors are in private practice and are paid from government funds. Patients are free to choose their health care practitioner, hospital or clinic. Just like the way Medicare is funded, everyone pays into the health care system through taxes according to income. There are no additional premiums, co-pays or deductibles. Over 90% of Americans would pay far less for health care than they do now. Everything can be done more efficiently and at less cost without for-profit health insurance companies.
Why is Single Payer the Best Solution?
Medicare is an example of single-payer system. Single-payer financing is the only way to recapture the money we now waste by having for-profit health insurance companies. For example, we would not have to pay for things that have nothing to do with health care: overhead, underwriting, billing, sales and marketing departments, lobbying, paying dividends to stockholders and paying exorbitant executive salaries. Estimates on savings with single payer range from $350 billion to $400 billion per year. That's more than enough to provide comprehensive health care to everyone without paying any more into health care than we already do.
Featured Article
Los Angeles Times: Anthem Blue Cross dramatically raising rates for Californians with individual health policies
Policyholders are incensed over rate hikes of as much as 39%, which they say come on top of similar increases last year. State insurance regulators say they'll investigate.
See more single payer in the news
Read more about single-payer legislation
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HCFAT members are available to present on single-payer national health insurance to your organization.
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Featured Partners
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According to a Harvard University study, one American dies every 12 minutes from lack of health insurance.
What You Can Do
Take Action and stand up for health care for all
Join Us by becoming a member of HCFAT
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Single Payer
Improved and Expanded Medicare for All
Health Care For All Texas
True Claims
Medicare Pays for More than Health Care
for the Elderly
Medicare pays for:
1. The sickest Americans: the elderly and
the disabled
2. Most medical residencies
3. Most durable equipment for many
hospitals
For-profit health insurance companies
do Not pay for:
1. The sickest Americans: the elderly and
the disabled
2. Medical residencies
3. Durable equipment for hospitals
Featured Donor
Health Care for All Texas wishes to express gratitude to Dr. Dan Wirt for his generous support which helped make this website possible.
