HCACF co-president, Vince Markovchick recently facilitated 4 discussions about our healthcare system. These OLLI classes were offered at the University of Denver and focused on the history of healthcare, comparing our system to healthcare in other countries, and reasons for the high cost of care here in the United States. 

Dr. Sanjeev K. Sriram takes the position that healthcare is a basic right and that Medicare-for-All is a way to ensure that all Americans will be covered, even though the AMA is siding with the insurance industry.  Profit before patients is not what most doctors or patients support. Common Dreams, April 12, 2019 

HCACF Board member Vince Markovchick, MD presents how American taxpayers are paying more for their healthcare than people living in countries with national health insurance.  He asks and answers the following questions: What is the root cause of our healthcare dilemma? Why are our costs so high? What are the attributes of the “Ideal” health insurance plan? He also explains healthcare waste, cost and abuse in our U.S. insurance system, and why public opinion in the United States strongly favors single-payer national health insurance.

Adam Gaffney from PNHP examines the history of universal healthcare and his hope that the Democrats do not repeat mistakes from the past. He recognizes the need for a single-payer healthcare system and identifies the answer to be a “fully public national health insurance providing comprehensive, universal coverage to the entire nation.”

Political action committees of the 5 biggest for-profit health insurers - Aetna, Anthem, Humana, Cigna and United Health – are making large campaign donations to almost as many congressional Democrats as Republicans, in order to counter growing popular support for single payer insurance. As much as they oppose single payer, commercial insurers promote Medicare Advantage plans, which have become increasingly profitable to private insurers. The Coalition for Medicare Choices, created by AHIP, claims to be for the people, but is lobbying Congress to protect insurers’ Medicare Advantage profits.

Insurers’ donations to House Democrats by company as % of total contributions to date

Thomas Billroth Gottlieb, MD

Physicians, health care providers, and citizens/residents want high quality health care at reasonable cost resulting in healthy communities.  Education and research surrounding these democratic values of quality, cost, and healthy communities have been opposed by corporate stake holders of the medical industrial complex.  These values are not being met in the US.  Due to failure to achieve these goals, the US health care system has become a troubled asset in need of a Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).