Key benefits of universal, single-payer healthcare

1. Affordability

❌ Current System: Individuals and employers face significant costs, including premiums, deductibles, co-pays, and out-of-pocket expenses.

✅ Single-Payer: Single-payer eliminates premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket expenses, eliminating medical debt and medical bankruptcy.

2. Access to care

❌ Current System: Millions of people are underinsured or uninsured, unable to afford healthcare whether or not they have insurance.

✅ Single-Payer: Everyone is fully covered, with no deductibles or out-of-pocket expenses, ensuring every Oregonian can access the care they need.

3. Equity

❌ Current System: Marginalized communities face significant disparities in healthcare access due to factors such as health, income, employment, age, race, gender, and immigration status.

✅ Single-Payer: A single-payer system is the path to achieving healthcare equity and fairness in Oregon, ensuring that every individual, regardless of their background or circumstances, has equal access to needed healthcare services.

4. Cost Savings

❌ Current System: Oregonians currently spend billions on health insurance annually.

✅ Single-Payer: Single-payer healthcare will save Oregonians nearly a billion dollars per year.

5. Choice of Providers

❌ Current System: Limited to "in-network" providers, with insurance companies restricting choices.

✅ Single-Payer: All providers are considered "in-network," giving you the freedom to choose any healthcare provider.

6. Administrative Costs for Providers

❌ Current System: Healthcare providers face administrative complexities with multiple insurance companies.

✅ Single-Payer: A single-payer system reduces administrative burdens, saving providers a lot of money and allowing them to focus on patient care.

7. Less Delayed or Denied Care

❌ Current System: Current systems often delay or deny care through prior authorizations and base their decisions on profit.

✅ Single-Payer: Care decisions are medical decisions, they’re not based on profit motives.

8. Independence from Employers

❌ Current System: Tied to employers, which can burden both businesses and employees.

✅ Single-Payer: Independent of employers, providing the freedom to change jobs without losing health insurance and freeing employers from administering health plans.

9. Provider Burnout

❌ Current System: Healthcare providers are burdened by the complexities of dealing with insurance companies including prior authorizations, networks, and denials which takes time away from patient care. Providers are demoralized, leading to stress, fatigue, and burnout as they are unable to provide patients with the care they need.

✅ Single-Payer: With only one "insurance" payer to interact with, healthcare professionals can focus on patient care. This improves the quality of care, and decreases provider burnout.

10. Hospital Closures

❌ Current System: Our current insurance system strains many hospitals, especially in underserved areas, with complex billing procedures, insufficient reimbursements, and multiple insurance providers. These financial challenges have led to hospital closures, depriving communities of essential healthcare services.

✅ Single-Payer: Single-payer healthcare simplifies billing and reimbursement, reducing administrative costs and providing hospitals with financial stability. It ensures that critical healthcare infrastructure remains intact, preventing hospital closures and ensuring equitable access to care for all Oregonians.

Next: Click here to learn about the path to universal, single-payer in Oregon ➡

Universal, single-payer healthcare in Oregon is necessary and possible!