Pediatrician Margaret Flowers of Maryland is dedicated to the idea that America can afford having a universal, single payer health care system.  Basically, she believes the existing Medicare system for the elderly should be extended to all citizens.

She’s not alone when it comes to physicians, 17,000 of whom have joined with her as Physicians For A National Health Program.

Dr. Flowers found out firsthand about how “broken” our political system has become.  Despite consistent positive public support for single payer, universal health coverage, Dr. Flowers found that  Congress and the Administration are controlled by special corporate interests and decided to exclude any honest debate about a single payer system.   The Administration, said Flowers, decided that single payer simply could not get through Congress and therefore must be shunted aside.

What was left, she maintains, was legislation that was “designed to fail.”  If it had passed as written, she says, it would take five or six years before the public would realize that it was a failure, and the incredible pain and suffering our current system exacts on millions of citizens would continue unabated.

Also interesting in the interview was Dr. Flowers recounting how large insurance bureaucrats warp medical care delivery.  Dr. Flowers was advised by one insurance company to limit herself to one wellness visit per day.  And for any additional problems she found with her patients that were not the reason for their visit, she was advised to schedule another appointment (and thus another fee).

In other words a “churn and burn” medical philosophy where the insurance company was most definitely not interested in saving any money–otherwise they would advise NOT to make a second appointment, which would drive medical bills up.  This is not the advice of someone working in a competitive environment.

If you have any interest in this subject, you can watch Dr. Flowers in an interview with Bill Moyers here.

Here’s a Bill Moyers interview that’s a must watch if you’re at all interested in the real story behind the health care debate.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html