Republicans for Single-Payer |
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Return Excerpt: A Conservative Case for Universal Access to Health Care Authors: Paul T. Menzel, Ph.D. and Donald W. Light, Ph.D. Universal access to needed medical services—compulsory health insurance—is essential to be faithful to four traditional conservative moral values: individual productivity and responsibility, equal opportunity and just sharing between well and ill, prevention of free-riding, and the realization of personal integrity. A fair and conservative plan for universal access would have the following features: 1) Everyone is provided access to needed health care. The fact that one has insurance for basic, needed care should not depend on one’s “insurance risk” or health condition. 2) Non-financial barriers and health disparities by class, language, education, and geography are minimized. 3) Decisions about all matters are open and publicly debated. Accountability for costs, quality, and the value of providers, suppliers, and administrators is public. 4) Administrative overhead, markups, and over-treatment are minimized. 5) Self-responsibility, prevention, strong primary care, and public health are emphasized to maximize people’s ability to exercise their freedom, choice, and responsibility. 6) Individuals will still have considerable discretion to buy more expansive coverage and intensive services than the services to which universal access is guaranteed. 7) Providers are paid fairly and equitably for treating any patient. The question for conservative leaders who loathe wasted human potential, bureaucratic complexities, free riders and inefficiency is, how can they not advocate for universal access to health care if they want to remain loyal to their own values? Paul Menzel and Donald W. Light, “A Conservative Case for Universal Access to Health Care,” |
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