Single payer, or “improved Medicare for all” is a form of universal healthcare that is publicly financed and privately delivered.
Single payer is different from “socialized medicine”, where healthcare providers are governmental employees (such as in the U.K. or the U.S. Veteran’s Administration). Instead, healthcare providers work in private, non-profit hospitals and practices, but all medical bills are paid by a national health program (similar to the Canadian Medicare system).
Single payer controls costs and insures residentsĀ from cradle-to-grave by simplifying and streamlining payment and administration. For more information on how a single payer system would work in the U.S., see the Physician’s Proposal and www.pnhp.org.