Howard Goldberg: Single-payer health care plan the best

I hardly ever agree with Charles Krauthammer, but I do agree with his conclusion in his March 31 column “The road to single-payer health care.”

The Democrats tried mightily to fix our broken health care system with Obamacare, covering millions more people, eliminating lifetime maximums, etc. But premiums are rising and insurers are dropping out.

The Republicans will eventually cobble together a Ryan/Trumpcare plan. But it too will fail because a market-based solution can’t work for health care. Who’s going to shop for the best deal on care when they’re having a heart attack?

“Don’t be surprised, however, if, in the end, single-payer wins out”, Krauthammer said. And why not? The United States spends over 17 percent of GDP on health care, twice as much as Canada, for example, yet our average life expectancy is lower and our infant mortality rate is higher.

I grew up in Canada. Whenever I visit my family in Toronto, they always tell me how happy they are with their single-payer health care system, and how crazy we are in the U.S. with our health care mess.

Eventually, we’ll come to our senses. But, how many more people will have to suffer for how much longer until we do?

This story was originally published April 6, 2017 at 8:52 PM with the headline "Howard Goldberg: Single-payer health care plan the best."