None of the proposed plans are "single payer," at least not initially and publicly so. "[T]his option has been declared 'off the table' by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who's among those leading the charge for health-care reform in America. Top Democrats who will be deciding policy in America in 2009, including Baucus and President-elect Barack Obama, say single-payer is 'not politically feasible,' because the public won't strongly support it."<ref name="Single Payer">http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/12/03/state/80st_081203_column.txt</ref> The biggest supporter of "single payer" was Michigan Democrat John Conyers,<ref name="Single Payer"/> but he lost a key committee chairmanship for the new Congress in 2009. But note that Baucus's approach does provided for a taxpayer-subsidized government plan to "compete" with private plans, and supporters of this approach may intend for the taxpayer-subsidized plan to squeeze out the private plans over time in order to become a "single payer." | None of the proposed plans are "single payer," at least not initially and publicly so. "[T]his option has been declared 'off the table' by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who's among those leading the charge for health-care reform in America. Top Democrats who will be deciding policy in America in 2009, including Baucus and President-elect Barack Obama, say single-payer is 'not politically feasible,' because the public won't strongly support it."<ref name="Single Payer">http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/12/03/state/80st_081203_column.txt</ref> The biggest supporter of "single payer" was Michigan Democrat John Conyers,<ref name="Single Payer"/> but he lost a key committee chairmanship for the new Congress in 2009. But note that Baucus's approach does provided for a taxpayer-subsidized government plan to "compete" with private plans, and supporters of this approach may intend for the taxpayer-subsidized plan to squeeze out the private plans over time in order to become a "single payer." |