A WEDGE ISSUE FOR HEALTH CARE REFORM

According to a recent CBS poll, 23% of Americans are somewhat dissatisfied with the cost of health care and a stunning 58% are very dissatisfied. In addition, 61% are somewhat or very dissatisfied with the quality of care and that finding puts a dent in the wingnuts claim that we have the "best health care in the world" meme.

The Dems should use the widespread dissatisfaction with the cost to promote their system(s). I've read that the overhead for Medicare/Medicaid is about 2-3% while the overhead for the private sector is 10-12% and some have found much higher rates in the private sector. ¹ Let's say we could save 10% if we adopted the "Medicare for everyone" plan. That would amount to tens of billions of dollars in savings that would then go to others uses each year which would be a spur to the economy.

¹ New England Journal of Medicine
Volume 349:768-775 August 21, 2003 Number 8
Costs of Health Care Administration in the United States and Canada
Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., M.P.H., Terry Campbell, M.H.A., and David U. Himmelstein, M.D.