Once again, Reps. Jaques and Kowalko mislead the public about single-payer healthcare in Delaware

You'd think that somebody, somewhere, would actually call the Bobbsey Twins on this.  Every time that they sit down to talk about their flawed, recycled, Floyd-McDowell-authored single-payer bill (last years' HB 392) they use the same demonstrably inaccurate talking points as always.

Today's editorial in the WNJ is no exception.

Here are the tendentious statements from the article, and the simple truth about them:

Claim:

It is not socialized medicine. It is guaranteed access to health care. You get a health care card and you can go to any doctor or hospital in the U.S.

Truth:  In point of fact, the Jaques/Kowalko bill does NOT guarantee access to health care outside the State of Delaware.  The state board that they create will set allowable prices for all health care services, even those you receive out of state.  Written into their bill, however, is the proviso that the out-of-state service provider MUST accept Delaware's fee as 100% payment (you are not allowed to make supplementary payments).

This is not only de facto rationing, it is forced selection of doctors.  There are a number of medical services/procedures that you CANNOT have done in Delaware (organ transplants are a good example), and for which a politically appointed board will set the prices.  Nothing compels doctors or hospitals in other parts of the US to accept these state-mandated prices, and if you want to use Delaware single-payer for any of these, you are completely limited to choosing those who do, regardless of their expertise or qualifications.

Moreover, despite the claim that Delaware single-payer "is not socialized medicine" the bill introduced by Jaques and Kowalko OUTLAWS even supplemental health insurance, something that virtually none of our European neighbors with single-payer plans do.

I guess they tell the truth, however, in the sense that  you can "go" to any doctor or hospital in the nation--you just may not be able to afford their services.

Claim:

In fact, currently, private health insurance companies ration care is based on cost and if you don’t have health insurance, you don’t get care. 

Truth:

Currently, even without health insurance you are guaranteed to receive treatment at any emergency room.  I don't like that system any more than they do, but you can't ignore the fact that their statement is simply, factually wrong.

Claim:

Drugs will be cheaper under single payer because of the advantage of bulk purchasing. The system will provide a buying power advantage similar to the health care provided veterans which includes a 40 percent discount on pharmaceuticals. 

Truth:  Only as long as you stick to the formulary created by the politically appointed state board.  If the state board decides that some new cancer drug is too expensive, they simply omit it from the formulary and you cannot get it unless you pay full price on your own.  And since they would make supplementary insurance illegal . . . .

Claim:

Single payer will mean a vast improvement in access to health care for a majority of Delawareans. All medically necessary care would be funded including all doctor visits, hospital care, prescriptions, mental health services, nursing home care, rehab, home care, eye care and dental with no more bills, deductibles or co-pays.

Truth:  This is an open admission that single-payer health care would reduce the standard of care available to some Delawareans.  "All medically necessary care" is a euphemism for "all types of care approved by our politically appointed state board."  There is no oversight to this state board; it has far more power than Medicare, because it can virtually eliminate coverage of ALL "elective" care just through the act of defining what is "medically necessary."

Claim:

Under our proposed single-payer funding mechanism, we believe a majority of individuals and companies will save money. We have checked the numbers that are contained in our previous HB 392 and had those figures verified by the Secretary of Finance office. 

Truth:  Their funding mechanism is crap.  Despite repeated requests for them to show the numbers provided in the supposed Secretary of Finance report, Reps. Jaques and Kowalko have refused to do so.  Moreover, in response to my FOIA request earlier this year the Secretary of Finance office never located such a study.  The reality is that their funding mechanism raises taxes on almost everybody in the state and is incapable of funding their single-payer system.  State income taxes alone will go up 4.5-7%.  But once it is passed, they know that the state will have no option but to find tax dollars from your wallet to support this ridiculous white elephant.

This bill is so bad that the endorsed Democratic candidate for Insurance Commissioner, Mitch Crane, not only dropped his support for it, but scrubbed his website of any evidence that he had ever supported it.  Incumbent Karin Weldin Stewart campaigned on it in 2008 (primarily to win Kowalko's support) and then dropped it like a hot potato when she came into office.

Want substantiation of all these criticisms?

Here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.