'Single-Payer' Supporters Challenge Democrats
By Dan Eggen
Washington Post: June 6, 2009
When President Obama convened a town-hall meeting in Rio Rancho, N.M., last
month, he wanted to talk about credit card reform. But many in the crowd had
a different agenda.
"So many people go bankrupt using their credit cards to pay for health
care," the first questioner said to applause. "Why have they taken
single-payer off the plate?"
The "single-payer" activists had struck again. As Obama and congressional
Democrats work to hammer out landmark health-care legislation, they face
increasingly noisy protests from those on the left who complain that a
national program like those in Europe has been excluded from the debate.
The White House and Democratic leaders have made clear there is no chance
that Congress will adopt a single-payer approach -- named for the idea that
a single government-backed insurance plan would pay for all Americans'
medical costs -- because it is too radical a change.
That has not dissuaded single-payer activists, who have spent months
hounding Democratic lawmakers and organizing demonstrations, including one
that resulted in 13 arrests at a Senate hearing last month. The offensive
continues this weekend with plans to swamp a series of "house parties" on
health care hosted by Organizing for America, an Obama-backed project at the
Democratic National Committee.
Opportunity and Challenge
The movement poses both an opportunity and a challenge for Obama, who is
able to position himself as a centrist by opposing a single-payer plan but
who risks angering a vocal part of the Democratic base.
"Obama is really the one who is puzzling to us," said Rose Ann DeMoro,
executive director of the California Nurses Association, a union that has
been leading many of the single-payer protests. "We were all supporters of
him. . . . It's hard to understand how he can expect to rally support around
a plan that will leave the big insurance companies in charge and keep
hurting patients."
Many Republicans see the movement as evidence that Democrats are setting the
country on the path to "government-run health care," as they describe it.
Conservatives for Patients' Rights, an advocacy group bankrolled by ousted
Columbia/HCA chief Rick Scott, unveiled a $1.2 million ad campaign Thursday
that portrays Democratic plans as a "bulldozer" aimed at eliminating private
insurance companies.
"It's just one step removed from a single-payer system," Scott said in an
interview, referring to current Democratic proposals. "The goal is to get
rid of the insurance companies, and then the government makes all the
decisions."
Obama and other Democrats dispute such characterizations, saying they favor
a plan that would marry private and public resources to control costs and
expand coverage for 46 million uninsured Americans. Obama wrote in a letter
to Democrats this week that he "strongly" backs creating a public insurance
option to compete with private carriers, and also signaled that he is open
to the idea of requiring coverage for all Americans.
Obama has rejected the idea of establishing a single government insurance
program, however, saying the U.S. tradition of providing health care through
employers would make such a shift politically and practically impossible.
"If I were starting a system from scratch, then I think that the idea of
moving towards a single-payer system could very well make sense," Obama said
in response to the questioner in New Mexico, echoing comments he made during
his presidential campaign. "The only problem is that we're not starting from
scratch. . . . We don't want a huge disruption as we go into health-care
reform where suddenly we're trying to completely reinvent one-sixth of the
economy."
Advocates of a single national program argue that its benefits would far
outweigh the drawbacks, noting that most other industrialized nations
guarantee coverage for all at far lower costs with generally better health
outcomes. They also dispute allegations by Scott and other conservatives
that such a system would lead to rationing and waiting lists, saying that
Americans face the same problems and worse now.
"Single-payer on its merits can win," said Tim Carpenter, national director
of Progressive Democrats of America. "But we've been cut out by the doctors,
the insurance companies and other special interests."
A Small Victory
The single-payer activists won a small victory this week when Sen. Max
Baucus (D-Mont.), who is leading health-care negotiations as chairman of the
Senate Finance Committee, agreed to meet with them after months of tension.
Those in attendance said Baucus apologized for not including single-payer
advocates more prominently in earlier hearings, but he also said it is too
late to change direction.
Polling on single-payer insurance varies widely, based largely on how the
issue is framed. In an April Kaiser Family Foundation poll about ways to
increase the number of Americans covered by health insurance, the option
finished last on an eight-item list, with 49 percent in favor and 47 percent
opposed. Moreover, about a third of those who support a public insurance
option would turn against the idea if it were an initial step toward
single-payer care, the poll found
Most mainstream progressive groups, including some that have previously
advocated a single-payer approach, think Obama's strategy has the best hope
for success. Many groups draw lessons from the Clinton administration, which
buckled under attacks from Republicans and the medical lobby when it
proposed a more centralized approach.
This time around, unions and groups such as Health Care for America Now plan
to spend more than $80 million on ad buys, outreach and other efforts to
support Obama and the Democrats. The DNC, using Obama's campaign e-mail list
of 13 million names, kicks off its effort today with thousands of "house
parties" focused on "the urgency of passing health care reform this year,"
according to a news release.
In an e-mail this week, Progressive Democrats of America urged its
supporters to "take the single-payer message" to the meetings.
DNC spokesman Brad Woodhouse said the gatherings are open to all. "Their
voices, energy and passion are welcome, and no one is looking at them as the
enemy," he said. "It's just that with the system we have, single-payer is
not something that's likely to happen."
Polling director Jon Cohen contributed to this report.
***
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2009282093_healthmarch31m.html
Thousands hit Seattle streets seeking changes to health care
Thousands joined a health-care rally and later a mellow, slow-moving parade
in downtown Seattle, complete with belly dancers, drums, air horns,
children, bicycles and lots of signs, both mass-produced and hand-drawn.
Many said they wanted a single-payer national health-insurance system - the
type of insurance that's widely used in Europe and Canada.
By Katherine Long
Seattle Times: May 31, 2009
The crowd was mostly Democratic, but that didn't stop them from shouting
down Sen. Patty Murray's general remarks about the need for health-care
reform with a more specific call for a single-payer health-insurance system.
Thousands joined a health-care rally and later a mellow, slow-moving parade
in downtown Seattle, complete with belly dancers, drums, air horns,
children, bicycles and lots of signs, both mass-produced and hand-drawn.
Many said they wanted a single-payer national health-insurance system - the
type of insurance that's widely used in Europe and Canada.
Organizers put the crowd size at 3,500. Seattle police gave an estimate of
2,500 as of 1 p.m. - although the crowd seemed to grow as the day wore on.
More than 190 organizations endorsed the rally, including dozens of unions,
women's organizations, health-care workers and churches.
Many protesters said health-care changes are needed now because so many
people have no health care, whether that's because their employer no longer
offers it, it's too expensive or because they're unemployed.
"The system is broken, and it's going to be so complex to fix it that we
might as well tear it up and start over," said Larry Neilson, a Seattle
medical transcriptionist, echoing a common sentiment.
"I work in health care, and I can't afford insurance," said Neilson, who
came to the rally wearing a doctor's white coat with the whimsical name "Dr.
Schlock" embroidered over the pocket.
Protesters pointed out that the country has one of the most expensive
health-care systems in the world, but lags behind other countries on such
health indicators as the infant-mortality rate.
Typical was a banner several protesters carried that read: "Diagnosis: the
greedy health insurers are parasites! The cure? Single payer option."
The demonstrators shouted down Murray as she concluded her
pro-health-coverage remarks at Pratt Park in Central Seattle, where the
march began.
"I am heading back to Washington," Murray started, and was drowned out by
chants of "Single payer, single payer!"
Protesters said they were disappointed that Murray hasn't said anything in
support of the single-payer option.
"Did you see Patty Murray shouted down?" asked Stuart Ferguson, a Democratic
precinct committee chairman for the 46th District. "I hope she took notice.
The more people that do it, the more successful we'll be."
Ferguson said he voted for President Obama, but he's disappointed the
administration has invited insurance companies to the negotiating table.
He and many other protesters said they fear the administration's efforts at
change won't go far enough.
But when they chanted for Obama to pay attention to their concerns, the
crowd did it in Spanish, not English. The chant, "Obama, escucha, estamos en
la lucha," means, "Obama, listen, we are in the fight."
Barbara Hansen and Sara Baldwin, both of Seattle, said they each had
children who had just graduated, or were about to graduate, from college and
could no longer receive health care through their parents' plans.
If her daughter got into a serious bike accident on the way to work, it
would cost the family so much money that it could force them to sell their
house, Hansen said.
"There are so many more uninsured people today than there were a year ago,"
said Linda Arkava, a cardiac nurse at Swedish Medical Center, who spoke to
the crowd just before Murray did.
"I see thousands of dollars wasted when people are unnecessarily admitted.
They come to us needing acute care - it costs so much more money, and they
suffer so much more."
Katherine Long: 206-464-2219 or klong@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
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