Single-Payer

Commentary

A bankrupt argument for single-payer health care

Are Americans going bankrupt because of medical debt? Leading progressives seem to think so. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., recently called for all medical debt to be canceled. “‘Medical debt’ and ‘Medical bankruptcy’ are two phrases that should not exist in the United States of America,” he said after the major ...
Commentary

Politically Fearful Newsom Punts on Single-Payer

Nearly two-and-a-half years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., created a commission to come up with a plan for implementing single-payer health care in the Golden State. The Healthy California for All Commission finally released its report last week. The governor has scarcely acknowledged its existence. In a statement, the governor’s spokesman said, “We have ...
Commentary

Sally Pipes Quoted in Ken Artz’s Column in April’s “Health Care News”: “Single-Payer Health Care Stalls in California”

By Ken Artz A bill to establish a state-run, single-payer health care system in California was stopped without a vote in the state Assembly after supporters realized they didn’t have enough votes to pass it. A.B.1400 would have begun a state takeover of private insurance, Medicare, and Medi-Cal at a ...
Blog

Why A Public Option Would Not Be Successful

Editor’s Note:  Last week, PRI President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy Sally C. Pipes participated in a debate on the public option at the annual conference of the National Council of Insurance Legislators conference in Las Vegas.    Nevada Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton moderated the debate.  ...
Blog

The True Cost of Restrictive Healthcare Licensing Laws: Mother’s Lives

Becoming a mother in the United States is risky. Among developed nations, the US has the highest rate of maternal mortality, carrying double the risk than that of France, and 10 times the risk than that of Norway. Our maternal mortality rates are even increasing. Recently released data from the ...
Commentary

High Healthcare Spending Doesn’t Bolster Case for Single-Payer

Does the United States spend too much on healthcare? A look at the lower levels of healthcare spending in peer countries like Canada and the United Kingdom would seem to indicate as much. But a closer look at those numbers reveals a far more complex story. Take the matter of ...
Commentary

Plan to Expand Medi-Cal is a Costly Step Towards Single-Payer

It’s budget season in Sacramento. Governor Gavin Newsom’s spending proposal is the largest in the Golden State’s history. There’s no shortage of expensive and misguided policies in his budget. Chief among them is his push to expand Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, to cover all undocumented immigrants. Doing so would ...
Commentary

Stalled in D.C., the Single-Payer Fantasy Makes Its Way to Blue States

Despite the best efforts of progressives such as Senator Bernie Sanders (D., Vt.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.), Medicare for All is off the table in Congress — for now, at least. But that doesn’t mean single-payer health care is dead. Like a zombie, the idea is being revived ...
Commentary

California Single-Payer Has Gone Up In Flames – For Now. Will Progressives Escape The Firestorm?

On January 31, the campaign for single-payer health care in California suffered its latest defeat. Progressive Democrats in the Assembly were unable to line up enough support for AB 1400, which would’ve launched a state takeover of private health insurance, Medicare, and Medi-Cal. So Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, the bill’s ...
Blog

No More Games – Return the Surplus to CA Taxpayers

Last year, I got a kick out of playing CalMatters’ Spend the Surplus Game.  This year, not so much. CalMatters created a clever online game that lets you decide how California should spend its surplus. This year, it’s projected to be $45.7 billion. Of that amount however, I only get ...
Commentary

A bankrupt argument for single-payer health care

Are Americans going bankrupt because of medical debt? Leading progressives seem to think so. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., recently called for all medical debt to be canceled. “‘Medical debt’ and ‘Medical bankruptcy’ are two phrases that should not exist in the United States of America,” he said after the major ...
Commentary

Politically Fearful Newsom Punts on Single-Payer

Nearly two-and-a-half years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., created a commission to come up with a plan for implementing single-payer health care in the Golden State. The Healthy California for All Commission finally released its report last week. The governor has scarcely acknowledged its existence. In a statement, the governor’s spokesman said, “We have ...
Commentary

Sally Pipes Quoted in Ken Artz’s Column in April’s “Health Care News”: “Single-Payer Health Care Stalls in California”

By Ken Artz A bill to establish a state-run, single-payer health care system in California was stopped without a vote in the state Assembly after supporters realized they didn’t have enough votes to pass it. A.B.1400 would have begun a state takeover of private insurance, Medicare, and Medi-Cal at a ...
Blog

Why A Public Option Would Not Be Successful

Editor’s Note:  Last week, PRI President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy Sally C. Pipes participated in a debate on the public option at the annual conference of the National Council of Insurance Legislators conference in Las Vegas.    Nevada Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton moderated the debate.  ...
Blog

The True Cost of Restrictive Healthcare Licensing Laws: Mother’s Lives

Becoming a mother in the United States is risky. Among developed nations, the US has the highest rate of maternal mortality, carrying double the risk than that of France, and 10 times the risk than that of Norway. Our maternal mortality rates are even increasing. Recently released data from the ...
Commentary

High Healthcare Spending Doesn’t Bolster Case for Single-Payer

Does the United States spend too much on healthcare? A look at the lower levels of healthcare spending in peer countries like Canada and the United Kingdom would seem to indicate as much. But a closer look at those numbers reveals a far more complex story. Take the matter of ...
Commentary

Plan to Expand Medi-Cal is a Costly Step Towards Single-Payer

It’s budget season in Sacramento. Governor Gavin Newsom’s spending proposal is the largest in the Golden State’s history. There’s no shortage of expensive and misguided policies in his budget. Chief among them is his push to expand Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, to cover all undocumented immigrants. Doing so would ...
Commentary

Stalled in D.C., the Single-Payer Fantasy Makes Its Way to Blue States

Despite the best efforts of progressives such as Senator Bernie Sanders (D., Vt.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.), Medicare for All is off the table in Congress — for now, at least. But that doesn’t mean single-payer health care is dead. Like a zombie, the idea is being revived ...
Commentary

California Single-Payer Has Gone Up In Flames – For Now. Will Progressives Escape The Firestorm?

On January 31, the campaign for single-payer health care in California suffered its latest defeat. Progressive Democrats in the Assembly were unable to line up enough support for AB 1400, which would’ve launched a state takeover of private health insurance, Medicare, and Medi-Cal. So Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, the bill’s ...
Blog

No More Games – Return the Surplus to CA Taxpayers

Last year, I got a kick out of playing CalMatters’ Spend the Surplus Game.  This year, not so much. CalMatters created a clever online game that lets you decide how California should spend its surplus. This year, it’s projected to be $45.7 billion. Of that amount however, I only get ...
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