People potentially in need of health care should be thankful that the single payer amendment was withdrawn in the U.S. Senate deliberations on health care legislation (H.R. 3590). Single payer leads to rationing and an erosion of doctors’ discretion as to the best treatment because the government is calling the shots.
If consumers currently don’t like the health insurance they have, they can work with their agent to get a different plan or even change companies. As a member of the board for the Pennsylvania Association of Health Underwriters, I see the benefits patient choice offers Americans every day.
That free-market flexibility and consumer choice would be lost if a government plan is the only option. Everyone agrees that something must be done to curb spiraling health care costs, but a monopolistic government-run single payer system is certainly not the way to get there.
Sincerely,
Vince Phillips
Pennsylvania Association of Health Underwriters
Mechanicsburg
