Johns Hopkins' Dean: Reform 2.0- Single-Payer
By Michael J Klag, Dean of Johns Hopkins, School of Public Health
Published in Fall 2009
Magazine of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
I have to find a new doctor.
Last month, my primary care physician wrote me a letter. He said he was leaving private practice. He's an outstanding physician-a doctor's doctor whom I've known since he was a medical student. His reason for closing up shop? The sheer frustration of getting paid by private insurance companies...
...If we want true health care reform, we need a single-payer system. In this system, the government would act as administrator, paying for all patient visits, prescription drugs, medical procedures, and so on. Instead of thousands of different insurance companies, HMOs and others with all of their separate forms and billing contacts, doctors, hospitals and others would deal with a single administrator-eliminating waste in our system...