Single-Payer Reform

David Silverman

doi:10.7326/L17-0325

Letters |3 October 2017

Single-Payer Reform

David Silverman, MD

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TO THE EDITOR:

I read Woolhandler and Himmelstein's commentary (1) with great interest. I am an internist and worked in the United States for 30 years and in New Zealand for 9 years, 8 of which I served as a full-time employee in a public hospital. As a provider, I never had a job or life better than I have had in New Zealand. All hospital-based care is free. The purpose of public health care is to provide medical care, not make money. There is a health care budget, and not everything is available for everyone; however, we have better Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development outcomes for many measures than the United States at a fraction of the per capita cost. No one is uninsured or goes into debt or shoulders huge bills in the public sector. I am well-compensated and have worked under a wonderful national physician contract with generous benefits (I now work part time as a locum tenens physician). I also have little to no indemnity concerns—I am free to practice medicine and my patients are free to access it without financial concern. It is far from perfect, but it is pretty good and I am delighted to be a part of it.

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2017 American College of Physicians

Letters |3 October 2017

Single-Payer Reform

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Letters |3 October 2017

Single-Payer Reform

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