Title: The Problem With Single-Payer Plans
Summary: Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel published an article in the Hastings Center Report discussing the problems and complications of a single-payer insurance system.
Topic: Should the Obama administration attempt to convert the United States to a single-payer health care system?
Category: Academic Research
What is it? Article in the Hastings Center Report
Publication Information: Jan. 2008
Author: Ezekiel J. Emanuel
Location: http://0-web.ebscohost.com.janus.uoregon.edu/ehost/pdf?vid=4&hid=13&sid=8050d15c-97fb-47a5-901c-6ec623060dd9%40SRCSM1
Accessed: Feb. 24, 2009
Support:
Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel
The Hastings Center
British National Health Service
The New York Times
The Hastings Center is an independent, nonpartisan, and non-profit research institute, which was founded in 1969. The Hastings Center specializes in researching bioethics, and, on a bi-monthly basis, they print a “Hastings Center Report,” which is a collection of essays, columns and case-studies pertaining to bioethics. Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel uses an article from the New York Times and information from the British National Health Service to formulate his argument on why single-payer insurance is not the reform needed in the U.S.
Audience and Agenda:
Visitors of the Hastings Center’s website either work in the health care field, or have keen interest on the topic of bioethics. However, those who do follow the work of the Hastings Center and read the Hastings Center Report are able to further their education and awareness on ethical issues circulating the health care field. The Hastings Center is a non-profit research Institute and has over 200 contributors, which include physicians, attorneys, PhD’s and researchers. Dr. Emanuel is a NIH bioethicist, and is currently Director of the Clinical Bioethics Department at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Usefulness:
Dr. Emanuel argues that a single-payer reform would not fix the health care problems in the U.S. and that it would be a safe-haven for fraud and abuse. He does concede that the system would assure health care coverage for every American, and would save money by cutting administrative costs, but still feels that the benefits of a single-payer system do not outweigh the costs of reform. Dr. Emanuel brings up fair arguments, but he focuses on the technical details of the single-payer system rather than the over-arching goal that it is trying to achieve. A single-payer system would create the potential for abuse and poor spending, but that is why the government would need to create a way to make it transparent; this would eliminate many of the technical difficulties that Dr. Emanuel presents. He also presents his argument in purely fiscal and political terms because most arguments fade when health care is viewed as a human right.
Works cited:
Academic Search Premier
Quantcast.com
wikipedia.org
New York Times
google.com
http://www.nhs.uk/Pages/homepage.aspx
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