Single-Payer Health Care Group Speaks Out

Reforming the U.S. health care system is an ongoing challenge. But a group in Maine said there is a solution. Maine AllCare wants a single-payer system, where everyone gets health insurance under a government-run program. To draw attention to the issue, the group held a rally in Portland last night with members of Occupy Maine. They also brought in a renowned health care activist to speak at several events...

The idea for a single-payer health system isn't new. While it's gained traction in other countries like Canada, Australia, and the U.K., it hasn't in the U.S. Dr. Margaret Flowers wants to change that. She's a former pediatrician from Maryland who is now a full-time activist. She came to Maine to speak to various public and professional groups. "Really I got into this after my frustration trying to practice pediatrics within this current health environment which is more and more becoming owned by corporations that profit off of health care," said Flowers.

Lost in the bureaucracy she said, is a on people's health. Flowers said some of her more frustrating experiences as a pediatrician were when she admitted patients to a hospital. She said insurance companies would tell her how long her patients could stay, not the other way around. "They not only don't add any value to our current health care system, but they provide obstacles to getting health care in this country because their job is to make profits by not paying for care," she said.

Flowers saw it as her professional responsibility to become an activist. She spent a few years researching health care and said in the U.S., she saw a pattern of patchwork fixes that haven't worked. According to the World Health Care Organization, health care in the United States is the most expensive in the world, and ranks 37th in quality. Flowers said when you look at countries with better rankings, many use a single-payer system. She said there's even evidence in the U.S that single payer works. It's similar to Medicare, Flowers said, and studies show that once people are covered by Medicare, health disparities go down...