ABQJOURNAL OPINION/GUEST_COLUMNS: Single-Payer Health Care Won't Fly

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Single-Payer Health Care Won't Fly

By Joseph Lohnes
Albuquerque resident
          I was surprised to discover that Winthrop Quigley embarked on an unreasonable and disingenuous line of thinking in the UpFront column "Medical Cost Cutter Sacrificed" (March 15).
        He usually writes with some semblance of reason and logic about all things health (I don't always agree), but in this case he engaged in a particularly egregious comparison of the Federal Aviation Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and the Veterans Administration.
        Allow me to sort out this messy comparison by defining some CMS terms and re-defining the FAA in the template of CMS definitions. Last, I will briefly comment on ObamaCare.
        What is the CMS? As I understand, it is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CMS is the federal agency that administers the Medicare program and monitors the Medicaid programs offered by each state.
        Well, then, what is Medicare/Medicaid? Medicare is a social insurance program administered and financed by the U.S. government, providing health insurance coverage to people who are age 65 and over or who meet other special criteria. Medicare operates similar to a single-payer health care system. Medicaid is a health program for people and families with low incomes and resources. Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with limited income in the United States.
        Notice that these programs administer and finance health care programs for specific groups of people who must meet certain criteria; it is not all inclusive like ObamaCare plans to be. The same is true for the VA health care system; i.e., the VA provides a medical benefits package to all enrolled veterans. ... Once you enroll in the VA's health care system, you can be seen at any VA facility across the country. Again, the VA system serves a specific group of people who must meet certain criteria; also, VA participants must receive services within the system from in-network providers and facilities.
        Now on to the FAA.
        What is the FAA? Briefly, it is a division of the Department of Transportation that strives to ensure the safest and most efficient civil aerospace system in the world.
        How is this achieved? By focusing on safety and by creating programs and regulations that promote the safety of civil aviation. Notice that the FAA is not involved in the financing of the aviation industry. This is the key difference between the CMS/VA and the FAA.
        How would the FAA operate if it were like the CMS/VA?
        First, we would have FlightiCare. This would be a flight insurance program administered and financed by the U.S. government, providing flight insurance coverage to people who are 65 and over or who meet other special criteria. FlightiCare would operate similar to a single-payer flight insurance system.
        Second, we would have FlightiCaid. This would be a flight program for people and families with low incomes and resources. FlightiCaid would be the largest source of funding for flight- and aviation-related services for people with limited income in the United States.
        Further, if the FAA were like the VA, we would be required to utilize only in-network providers (airlines) and facilities (airports).
        This is all ridiculous, of course. As is the notion that our current health care system is dangerous, expensive and ineffective, per Mr. Quigley.
        While I agree that there are challenges in the current system, I do not agree that ObamaCare can take steps to solve them. There are too many reasons to cite, so I will focus on only one — the single-payer element.
        It is impossible to make a health care system safer, less expensive and more effective by reducing the number of payers. That is the one element of ObamaCare that will render the initiative unworkable.
        More payers are necessary in order to reduce costs, increase innovation, increase efficiencies and add more choices.
        Sounds like a market system; we should try it in health care delivery and financing.

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