Taking on the single-payer zealots

July 22, 2008

Ezra Klein tries to instill some political reality while participating in a health reform panel.

I think the dogmatic inflexibility of these “single-payer or nothing” groups impedes health reform. Compromise is needed to move forward.

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{ 1 comment }

1 Anonymous July 22, 2008 at 8:15 am

Alrhough I share your disdain for zealots and believe that compromise is necessary, I wonder why we attach the perjorative title of zealot to only those who are in favor of a single-payer system.

When I was in medical school in the early 90’s I heard many anti-single payer “zealots”, otherwise known as my attending physicians, criticize the Clintons and “socialized medicine”, while at the same time having their hands in the Medicare cookie jar. They were not open to discussion or debate. And, inching up on 20 yrs later, where did these anti-single payer zealots get us? Things only got worse while listening to them.

Let’s finally have the debate.
And let’s not be attaching labels to either side, it will only impede the discussion.

A concerned family practitioner in New York

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