![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.singlepayeraction.org\/\/nas\/content\/live\/singlepayer\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/graham.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLindsey Graham<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
That\u2019s what came out of a meeting with Senator Manchin with single payer activists earlier this month in Charleston, West Virginia.<\/p>\n
Also present during the meeting, via Skype, was University of Massachusetts Economics Professor Gerald Friedman.<\/p>\n
According to notes taken during the meeting by a participant, Manchin dismissed single payer in the the Senate, saying \u201cmy interest is in finding a workable pathway.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRepublicans are not going to back off of a private sector market,\u201d Manchin said. \u201cMitch McConnell is determined to vote to repeal. But he wants to get rid of taxes to pay for what we want to do. To do that they\u2019ve got to cut services. They\u2019re not trying to look for efficiencies or work with preventative care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA few of us \u2014 Susan Collins, Lindsey Graham, and others \u2014 are looking for a better way. \u00a0Lindsey Graham says \u2014 let\u2019s put everyone with a pre-existing condition on Medicare.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a big leap forward,\u201d Manchin said. \u201cBut I told him \u2014 we have to change the tax structure. We can\u2019t accumulate more debt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is not another Republican who supports what Lindsey has said,\u201d Manchin said. \u201cBut people are listening. \u00a0It gives us an opening we didn\u2019t have before. I told Chuck Schumer to act like he doesn\u2019t like it and wait and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reached by telephone, Friedman said Graham\u2019s proposal could easily drift into single payer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Senator Graham is talking about anybody with pre-existing conditions, that would be up to 75 percent of the population,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cMost people have a pre-existing condition \u2014 high blood pressure, depression, stress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMedicare would be taking all the sick people, except for the first time they get sick,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cIt would be 75 percent of medical costs in the United States. It would easily drift into single payer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are healthy, you are on private insurance. You get sick. Private health insurance covers your first trip to the doctor. Then at that point, you have a pre-existing condition. They you get shifted into Medicare.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friedman said there have been proposals over the years to cover one disease at a time.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne organ is currently covered by Medicare \u2014 that\u2019s the kidney,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cKidney disease is covered by Medicare now, regardless of age. If you need dialysis, you are covered by Medicare.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friedman says he doubts if Graham\u2019s proposal will get much support.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the Republicans want to repeal and replace, they should just adopt single payer,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cIt\u2019s more efficient than Obamacare, it\u2019s cheaper than Obamacare.\u201d<\/p>\n
But isn\u2019t Graham\u2019s proposal just a bailout of the private health insurance industry?<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, but it will erode their business very quickly,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cIn the short run, it\u2019s great for private health insurance. It gets rid of everybody at risk. It lower rates dramatically. You only have healthy people left in their pool. But these companies make money off of sick people too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friedman said that Bernie Sanders will introduce his single payer bill within the next couple of weeks. Friedman said that he has heard that there as many as nine Senators who will co-sponsor the Sanders single payer bill.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(Via Single Payer Action Newswire<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) has no time for single payer. But Senator Lindsey Graham is saying yes to single payer for sick people. Lindsey Graham That\u2019s what came out of a meeting with Senator Manchin with single payer activists … Continue reading