Our Solution

Health care in Utah can be USA:

Universal
Simple
Affordable

Triangular emblem with red, blue, and light blue borders. Inside, white text reads 'UNIVERSAL,' 'SIMPLE,' and 'AFFORDABLE' along the borders, with 'USA HEALTH CARE' in the center, accompanied by three white stars.

Universal

Everyone is included in a system that provides access to care. Coverage is decoupled from employment, which frees individuals to change jobs or undertake entrepreneurial endeavors without threatening their family’s economic survival from an unexpected accident or illness.

Simple

A single payer greatly reduces the administrative burden for both patients and providers of care. Money saved by reducing administrative costs can be applied to direct patient care. There are no networks that limit patients’ choice of doctors or hospitals. Transparent pricing means that everyone pays the same for each service.

Affordable

By moving away from a business model toward health care as a public service, we can provide better care at lower costs. Without medical debt, families can utilize their resources more effectively. The elimination of economic barriers to care results in a healthier, more productive population that strengthens the economy.

This USA triad is not a specific policy solution. It is a set of values, like the values in the Declaration of Independence (“created equal and endowed with certain unalienable rights”) or in the Pledge of Allegiance (“liberty and justice for all”).  These values are not a prescription for a specific, detailed healthcare system like those of any other advanced nation in the world.  Rather they are intended to draw attention to the fundamental values that must exist in the healthcare system for a nation as great as ours. If we focus on these values, most of the details of that reform will follow. 

What is preventing our health care system from achieving its USA aspiration?

Obstacle 1: Societal attitudes

We value hard work and view material success as the reward for doing so, and some among us fret that those less fortunate might get something that they haven’t earned. However, society overall is harmed when a large percentage of the population doesn’t have access to health care, and anyone can be brought to the brink of bankruptcy by an unexpected, catastrophic accident or illness. 

Obstacle 2: Money

The medical-industrial complex is hugely profitable and consumes nearly 20 percent of the United States’ GDP. They won’t give that up without a struggle. The situation is analogous to the decades-long fight against Big Tobacco that finally resulted in making it socially unacceptable to smoke in restaurants. We want to make profiteering in health care socially unacceptable as well.

Obstacle 3: Fear

There is little doubt that our current health care system is failing, but people are afraid that change might result in something worse. That fear is promulgated by those who profit from the status quo despite ample evidence that we would all be better off with a system that is universal, simple, and affordable.

Common Sense Health Care for Utah is fighting for the USA solution. This is not a partisan issue. Most people across the political spectrum agree that Universal, Simple, Affordable health care would be a great improvement over the current system, but many question how it would be funded. There is no free lunch. CSHCU has commissioned studies by three prominent health care economists, each of whom arrived at the same conclusion: 

By eliminating the overwhelming administrative burden and excessive profits of the insurance industry, sufficient funds would be available to provide health coverage to every resident of the state while decreasing the total health care expenditures in Utah. Revenue would be raised by some combination of taxes (payroll, sales, business-to-business, value added, etc.) and nearly everyone would pay less for health coverage than they do under the present system. 

It is a heavy lift that will require intensive, good-faith negotiations engaging consumers and all the stakeholders in the health care industry. Utahns should demand these changes and, if successful, will be rewarded by living in a healthier, happier, and more prosperous community.