The Debate Heats Up: The Case for Single-Payer

Allow me this morning to steer you in the direction of two writers who don’t need any help from me – Malcolm Gladwell of the New Yorker and Katrina Vanden Heuvel of The Nation. Both in their latest writings laid out the argument for universal health insurance through a single-payer plan, Gladwell in the most recent issue of that magazine, and vanden Heuvel on her blog. I especially call your attention to her analysis of the flaws in the recently-enacted Massachusetts plan, which mandates that individuals buy insurance. She also highlights the vote in the California legislature this week on a state-wide single-payer plan, an exciting development. States have always been the laboratories of democracy, and if we're going to get true health reform in the U.S., some major states are going to have to take the lead. And a "tipping point" of my hat to Gladwell for resuscitating the legacy of Walter Reuther, truly a man ahead of his time on this, as on many issues.