Friday, September 30, 2011

Montana Gov Schweitzer pushes for state single payer plan

The Governor wants to set up a plan similar to the very successful one in Canadian neighbor Saskatchewan.
"Montana has a population of 990,000 people," he explains. "Saskatchewan has a population of 1,050,000. Their average age is about the same average age of Montana. They're about 10 percent Indian, we're about 7 and a half percent Indian. The other ethnic groups—they're a mirror image of us ... So we have the same ethnic population, we're farmers, we're loggers, we're miners, we're oil developers ... They, in Saskatchewan, live two years longer and have lower infant mortality."

Looking at those basic elements, Schweitzer asked province Premier Brad Wall for details on their health system. He discovered that the province spends about $4 billion a year on universal health care, about $4,000 per person. In Montana, all systems—public and private, state and federal—it's a little more than $8 billion, and about twice as much per person.

"So they're living longer, less infant mortality, and they're paying half as much," said Schweitzer. "Unlike Washington, D.C., that piqued my interest. This is maybe a system that I want to look into."
And looking into it brings up some interesting savings points.
"We have an $8 billion health care industry in Montana right now, and 50 percent of it, or $4 billion, is coming directly from the federal government," he continued. "That may be enough so that we can get the rest of Montana in it. We turn to the rest of Montana and say to them we've got this $4 billion, and we're taking care of all these people, and now we've run the rates and if you want to pay into this system, here's how much it's going to be. If you don't want to buy into that system, you don't have to."

"If you want to pay twice as much for Blue Cross and Blue Shield and have their accountants lie to you," the governor said, "you just stay right where you're at. But I think they'll knock our door down."
Sadly the Governor does not see much chance anytime soon. The moneys from the feds need an HHS waiver not likely to be granted by the health insurance corporations. And the legislature is in the hands of the Republicans who are not about to give a Democrat the time of day even if he needed it to stop Godzilla.

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