Colin Powell Endorses Single-Payer Health Care
Some members of Congress want to take Obamacare a step further
By STEVEN NELSON
December 10, 2013
At a prostate cancer survivors breakfast last week, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican, marveled at the quality of single-payer health care systems abroad and suggested the U.S. follow suit.
Amid frustration with the rollout of President Barack Obama's health care plan, some members of Congress who agree with Powell are pushing for consideration of such a system.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduced the American Health Security Act of 2013 on Monday, which would require states to create their own single-payer insurance systems. A House version was introduced in March by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash.
In single-payer systems, the government pays for most non-elective medical care. Supporters say adopting that tax-financed model would improve care and dramatically reduce costs by eliminating overhead and insurance company profits. Opponents fear rationing and reduced personal choice.
[READ: Obama Seeks Support From Disillusioned Millennial Base]
The 2010 Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, retained the private health insurance industry and forces Americans to buy private insurance policies or face a fine. Attempts to include a public health insurance option were blocked by Republicans and conservative Democrats who feared it would be a backdoor to a single-payer system.
Powell said, however, that he would welcome the adoption of a socialized insurance system.
"I don't see why we can't do what Europe is doing, what Canada is doing, what Korea is doing, what all these other places are doing," Powell said at the Dec. 5 event. "I am not an expert in health care, or Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, or however you choose to describe it, but I do know this: I have benefited from that kind of universal health care in my 55 years of public life."
The retired four-star general pointed to his military health insurance as an example of high-quality government insurance and shared an anecdote regarding his firewood supplier -- a woman named Anne -- who sought help paying for an MRI scan not covered by her private insurance policy.
"Every country I've visited, every developed country, they have universal health care ... I think universal health care is one of the things we should really be focused on," Powell said. "Whether it's Obamacare, or son of Obamacare, I don't care. As long as we get it done."
Powell's remarks were reported Monday by ABC News, which cited a report in the Puget Sound Business Journal.
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