Colorado Medical Society

Introduced by: Cory D. Carroll, MD

Subject: Single Payer National Health Insurance

Referred to: Reference Committee on Health Affairs

WHEREAS, there are 43 million Americans uninsured, 50 million Americans underinsured and illness and medical bills account for over 50% of the personal bankruptcies in the United States, and

WHEREAS, the United States spends far more on health care than other advanced countries yet we don’t appear to receive more medical services and we have lower life-expectancy and higher infant-mortality rates than countries that spend less than half as much per person, and

WHEREAS, every other developed nation has some form of national health insurance (i.e. Germany, Switzerland, France, Greece, Japan, Canada, Denmark, Australia, Italy, Spain, and South Africa) and have never switched to a free market health care system (United States), and

WHEREAS, a single payer national health insurance would save at least $200 billion annually on paperwork and administration (enough to cover all of the uninsured and to upgrade coverage for Medicare enrollees and others who are underinsured), and

WHEREAS, the Colorado Medical Society already supports the concepts of universal health insurance coverage and universal access (CMS Policy Manual, revised Annual Meeting 2004 – sect. 185.998 Health System Reform), therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the Colorado Medical Society actively supports both locally and federally (through our AMA), the transition to a single payer national health insurance program.

FISCAL IMPACT: None