The Case Against Single Payer

Long thought of as an idealistic but unrealistic proposition promoted by far-left activists, single-payer health care has become a major discussion point across the political landscape. Bernie Sanders made it a central focus of his insurgent 2016 run for the Democratic presidential nomination against Hillary Clinton. House Democrats' messaging on health care in the 2018 midterm elections, and the burgeoning campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, have elevated single-payer even further, bringing the issue to the center of American politics. Surprisingly, however, few books have examined the impact of a single-payer health care system in depth--and most of those that have done so come from a leftist perspective supporting this dramatic change. This vacuum in the current literature cries out for a work making the case against single payer--one which educates the American people about the damaging effects of this proposed health care takeover. Written for a broad audience ranging from interested citizens to leaders in the conservative movement, The Case Against Single Payer will explain the harmful implications of giving the federal government unfettered control of the health care system.

"The best concise explanation of why the United States needs single-payer health care — and needs to widen the definition of health care itself."— The Washington Post Single payer healthcare is not complicated: the government pays for all care for all people. It’s cheaper than our current model, and most Americans (and their doctors) already want it. So what’s the deal with our current healthcare system, and why don’t we have something better? In Health Justice Now, Timothy Faust explains what single payer is, why we don’t yet have it, and how it can be won. He identifies the actors that have misled us for profit and political gain, dispels the myth that healthcare needs to be personally expensive, shows how we can smoothly transition to a new model, and reveals the slate of humane and progressive reforms that we can only achieve with single payer as the springboard. In this impassioned playbook, Faust inspires us to believe in a world where we could leave our job without losing healthcare for ourselves and our kids; where affordable housing is healthcare; and where social justice links arm-in-arm with health justice for us all.

A government takeover of the US health care system has never looked more plausible. Support for the idea is at an all-time high. Two-thirds of Democratic voters favor “single-payer” health care; even one in four Republicans is on board. In this Broadside, Sally C. Pipes makes the case against single-payer by offering evidence of its devastating effects on patients in Canada, the United Kingdom, and even the United States. Long wait times, substandard care, lack of access to innovative treatments, huge public outlays, and spiraling costs are endemic to single-payer. Those are hardly outcomes we should consider foisting upon the American health care system.

A citizen's guide to America's most debated policy-in-waitingAfter languishing for decades on the fringes of political discussion, Medicare-for-All has quickly entered the mainstream debate over what to do about America's persistent healthcare problems. But for most informed Americans, this surge of public and political interest in Medicare-for-All has outpaced a strong understanding of the issues involved. This book seeks to fill this gap in our national discourse, offering an expert analysis of the policy and politics behind Medicare-for-All for theinformed American.

New York Times bestseller Business Book of the Year--Association of Business Journalists From the New York Times bestselling author comes an eye-opening, urgent look at America's broken health care system--and the people who are saving it--now with a new Afterword by the author. "A must-read for every American." --Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief, FORBES One in five Americans now has medical debt in collections and rising health care costs today threaten every small business in America. Dr. Makary, one of the nation's leading health care experts, travels across America and details why health care has become a bubble. Drawing from on-the-ground stories, his research, and his own experience, The Price We Pay paints a vivid picture of the business of medicine and its elusive money games in need of a serious shake-up. Dr. Makary shows how so much of health care spending goes to things that have nothing to do with health and what you can do about it. Dr. Makary challenges the medical establishment to remember medicine's noble heritage of caring for people when they are vulnerable. The Price We Pay offers a road map for everyday Americans and business leaders to get a better deal on their health care, and profiles the disruptors who are innovating medical care. The movement to restore medicine to its mission, Makary argues, is alive and well--a mission that can rebuild the public trust and save our country from the crushing cost of health care.

"This book describes an optimistic new approach to improving health care delivery to cover every American. Quality will be improved while costs will be lowered, ending the misery and grievances plaguing U.S. health care now. Dr. Burdick proposes an original doctors' board to independently oversee care using a new approach to monitor quality. Joined with a convenient national electronic medical record system, this unique single payer system will free doctors to deal with each patient individually. With these innovations, Dr. Burdick limits market influences and politics in medical decisions so that each patient will receive care guided by their personal medical needs. Thirty interviews with a broad range of authorities provide startling new insights about the adoption of a single payer structure for American health care. These experts complement Dr. Burdick's own clinical and Federal experience as a leader in overseeing the country's organ transplantation program. Through these unique initiatives, Dr. Burdick provides common sense solutions to the political and social challenges currently anchoring American health care to costly and medically inferior practices. Such progress is more possible now than ever before." -- Back cover.

Essential reading for every American who must navigate the US health care system. Why was the Obama health plan so controversial and difficult to understand? In this readable, entertaining, and substantive book, Stuart Altman—internationally recognized expert in health policy and adviser to five US presidents—and fellow health care specialist David Shactman explain not only the Obama health plan but also many of the intriguing stories in the hundred-year saga leading up to the landmark 2010 legislation. Blending political intrigue, policy substance, and good old-fashioned storytelling, this is the first book to place the Obama health plan within a historical perspective. The authors describe the sometimes haphazard, piece-by-piece construction of the nation’s health care system, from the early efforts of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman to the later additions of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. In each case, they examine the factors that led to success or failure, often by illuminating little-known political maneuvers that brought about immense shifts in policy or thwarted herculean efforts at reform. The authors look at key moments in health care history: the Hill–Burton Act in 1946, in which one determined poverty lawyer secured the rights of the uninsured poor to get hospital care; the "three-layer cake" strategy of powerful House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Wilbur Mills to enact Medicare and Medicaid under Lyndon Johnson in 1965; the odd story of how Medicare catastrophic insurance was passed by Ronald Reagan in 1988 and then repealed because of public anger in 1989; and the fact that the largest and most expensive expansion of Medicare was enacted by George W. Bush in 2003. President Barack Obama is the protagonist in the climactic chapter, learning from the successes and failures chronicled throughout the narrative. The authors relate how, in the midst of a worldwide financial meltdown, Obama overcame seemingly impossible obstacles to accomplish what other presidents had tried and failed to achieve for nearly one hundred years.