Dr. Sunny Aslam from Physicians for a National Health Program addressing a group of 50 people at the Jewish Community Center in Utica about universal health care. Photo courtesy Jen DeWeerth
Dr. Sunny Aslam from Physicians for a National Health Program addressing a group of 50 people at the Jewish Community Center in Utica about universal health care. Photo courtesy Jen DeWeerth
Moving Beyond the Affordable Care Act: Improved, expanded Medicare for All
On Oct. 1, 50 concerned citizens from Utica and the surrounding area spent 2 hours listening to a panel of speakers discuss single payer healthcare, and the systems that are being proposed at both the NY state and the federal US levels. The forum was organized by the Health Care Sub-Committee of Indivisible Mohawk Valley http://indivisiblemv.com/.
Dr. Sunny Aslam, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse and member of Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), opened the forum by discussing the implications of single payer healthcare at the national level. Dr Aslam said “No country that has adopted universal health care has ever gone back. Why? Because it is better healthcare. It’s also more efficient with only a 2-3% administrative cost compared to 12-18% the way the US does it now.”
Jeanette Zoeckler, Director of Research and Special Projects with the Occupational Health Clinical Centers in Syracuse, followed. She spoke about the New York Health Act which provides a single-payer solution for New York State residents, and has already passed the NY assembly and is one vote shy of passage in the NY senate. Dr. Zoeckler described the significant savings that 98% of New Yorkers would reap once this legislation is implemented, as well as other benefits including improved co-ordination of care.
In addition, a panel of local residents who have lived in countries with single-payer health care systems shared their positive experiences, and expressed their hopes that the US would join the rest of the developed world in the provision of affordable, quality, universal healthcare. Audience members heard
how home visits by doctors are a routine part of healthcare in the UK at no cost to patients. Panelists spoke of the freedom to choose their preferred doctors, the consistently excellent and compassionate care they received abroad, and the significantly shorter wait times to see specialists than here in the Mohawk Valley.
During Q and A, audience members discussed how navigating the US insurance markets is a source of ongoing stress and anxiety shared by both patients and healthcare providers. There was general agreement that we need to build on the gains made by the Affordable Care Act, and that single payer healthcare would be an improvement for everyone.
The success of this single-payer healthcare forum has encouraged the organizing committee to repeat this event throughout the region.
