Maine Healthcare - Task Force to evaluate insurance coverage for all

Testimony of Jeffrey Graham, M.D. to the Healthcare Task Force on January 22, 2018 in Augusta, Maine:

Good Afternoon. I am Dr. Jeffrey Graham, and I appreciate the opportunity to testify before the Task Force on Healthcare Coverage for all of Maine- January 22, 2018.

I am a consulting physician and work at the Charles A Dean Hospital in Greenville, Maine. Some of you have already heard me speak, a few months ago, in support of LD 1274:

"An Act To Promote Universal Health Care, Including Dental, Vision and Hearing Care"Sponsored by Representative Heidi Brooks AT that time, I described how providing healthcare for all would not only assure meaningful primary medical care to all Mainers, but would prevent treatable diseases from progressing to emergencies or incurable states.  It would also assure that helathcare providers, clinics, and hospitals would get paid for their services and remain solvent. These same hospitals, be they large or small, are also commonly the biggest employers in any given town or region.  In fact, the rural hospitals, like the one at which I work, are usually the hardest hit economically from having to see patients who require care, but are unable to pay for it. One of the biggest reasons to provide care for all is that, in one year, (2009), over 922,000 people from families in the US went bankrupt from medical bills.  Moreover, the scariest thing is that 78 percent of them HAD health insurance! There is no question that wading through the details of implementing a universal health plan is a tremendous task, but I would like to provide an impetus towards that goal and I would start with 7 simple words-  "Every Other Developed Nation in the World" Yes, every other developed nation has found a way to provide basic health care to ALL its citizens. This includes newly industrialized nations like Singapore, that accomplished this in 1994, that was 24 years ago. It includes what we would consider capitalist nations like Switzerland (also implemented in 1994). This includes small nations where implementation was more akin to providing health care, like we are discussing, at the state level, in Maine and in the US, Or, like Iceland did in 1990.  Canada initiated universal healthcare in 1966, starting with Saskatchewan Province. A single person, Tommy Douglas, led this amazing effort in Saskatchewan and in 2004, he was subsequently voted, "The Greatest Canadian". Implementation of universal health care has been done in every developed nation. These healthcare systems vary widely; but, in general, they have a few things in common: Everyone is in and no one is out Everyone pays into the system and everyone receives care All costs are negotiated rom the cost of a doctor's visit to procedure to the price of medications (this last one being a huge component of the high cost of USA medical care!) The basic health plan, if provided by independent insurance companies, is not for profit.  Only premium supplemental plans (paying for such things as a private hospital room) can be sold for profit. Not only is healthcare provided more equitably in these countries, but their healthcare statistics are better than in the USA; thins like: life expectancy, neonatal death rates and "healthy years", after 60 years of age.   So, once again, there is no state, province or nation too big or too small not to benefit from heatlhcare for all. Please remember: Every Other Developed Nation in the World Thank you for your time. Jeffrey Graham, M.D. Glenburn, ME 04401