Pay Less, Get More
According to Joel Harrison, Ph.D., MPH, Americans underestimate how much they subsidize the current U.S. health care system out of their own pockets. Even people without health insurance pay large sums into the system today – and for a system that provides seriously inadequate care to millions of Americans (Dollars and Sense Magazine, May/June 2008 issue).
All other industrialized countries with national health insurance spend about half as much per person on health care as we do in the United States. Yet, they cover everyone and their overall medical outcomes are as good or better.
Until we actually have a single-payer bill, we won't know for sure what a single-payer national health program would cost. Our healthcare calculator will give you a good idea about your savings under a single-payer system. We are using the proposed benefits and financing mechanisms of HR 676, John Conyers (D-Michigan) because HR 676 has clearly specified what the sources of funding will be for health care. This makes it fairly easy to estimate costs.
Most people (about 95%) will pay far less than they do now but get very generous health care benefits. This can be done with a single payer system because the for-profit private insurance bureaucracy and paperwork that goes with it consume one-third (31 percent) of every healthcare dollar. Streamlining payment through a single nonprofit payer would save more than $400 billion per year. This is more than enough to provide comprehensive, high-quality coverage for all Americans.
Health Care For All Texas
Check Out
See what systems other countries use to provide health care to all their citizens
Single Payer is health care based on need, not ability to pay
See how to use the calculator to compare your current benefits and costs with single payer
