Single-Payer National Health Insurance

Resolved Section(s):
RESOLVED: That the MSMS support the adoption of a single-payer national health insurance system in the United States; and be if furtherRESOLVED: That the MSMS explore opportunities to partner with other organizations to lobby for a single-payer national health insurance system.RATIONALE: This resolution is familiar to the Committee from previous attempts to pass almost identical versions of this proposal in the past. Consequently, the tone and nature of the debate was very similar to that of years past. There are some physicians that believe that a single-payer system will reduce costs and solve many of the issues related to access to care for the uninsured and point to successes in other countries. Conversely, there are many physicians that believe the arguments in favor of a single–payer health system are dubious, cite the underfunding of Medicare and Medicaid, and point to failure of single-payer in other countries. The Committee expects this issue to be extracted and voted upon by the full House; however, the Committee would have preferred that a new approach to this subject be taken, new information be provided, or some other change be made to avoid revisiting the same issue year after year.