So the last time I was to the Doctor's office it was actually to take my little brother in because he was sick. To be quite honest with you I don't even remember the last time I have been to the doctor's office, but I do remember that the last time it was only for a simple yearly check-out.
So why am I a single-payer advocate? Well I do believe single-payer is the best solution, but like many of you, I am willing to compromise for a strong Public Option open to everyone and every employer.
So why would a healthy middle-class person like me support such reforms?
I'm the healthiest in my family, the last time my family got the flu I was (thankfully) spared. Maybe it is because my mother tried to raise me to not be greedy, but I don't mind paying higher taxes for healthcare. Ideally I'd like a single-payer system with everyone in and nobody left out. The idea that I might pay higher taxes to make sure everyone has access to healthcare is actually an empowering thought. Even if I can make it to 50, or 60 years of age without any health complications, I do hope to live to die of old age. And that is the age when everyone needs healthcare, least of which to help us deal with the end of our lives.
And, in the end, if I pay more taxes then I used in healthcare then that is okay. The fact that under a single-payer system, if I became extremely sick, my country would pay for needed treatment and that is a very comforting thought. Unfortunately we do not have a national single-payer system, but a patchwork of private, public, and private-public programs that leave a lot of people out. Even people with private insurance are in no way guaranteed that they will ever receive any care. People only get insurance for the chance that in their time of need the private insurance companies will pay out.
And we all know this (I know this is preaching to the choir), but in the final stretch before all of this goes down we need to hold on to two simple goals. One short term, and one long term goal.
(1) We need to pass a robust Public Option open to ever person and every employer.
(2) We need to aim for a single-payer system somewhere down the road, and to support any state efforts to establish such systems.
However imperfect the Public Option may be in comparison to single-payer, we have to remember that it will help many people, and that without a Public Option we will not get reform only empty statutory language.
This is a once in a generation chance to get a strong public option out, and if we fail to achieve the Public Option we can forget about passing single-payer for decades and decades to come.
We can do this.