Matt Bruenig’s case for single-payer health care

Aug 12, 2019

Matt Bruenig, founder of the People's Policy Project, passionately advocates for single-payer healthcare. He tackles the public's confusion about private versus government insurance and the lessons from past reform failures. Bruenig discusses the significant political constraints that complicate bold policy changes, while emphasizing the need to separate idealism from political realities. He critiques the generational divide in healthcare views and urges a national system that decouples insurance from employment for equitable access.

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INSIGHT

Bruenig's Focus

Matt Bruenig, founder of People's Policy Project, focuses on policy.
He's less interested in historical healthcare reform analysis.

insights

INSIGHT

Polling Complexity

Public polling on healthcare is complex and influenced by framing.
Bruenig highlights a poll where keeping doctors increased Medicare for All support.

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ANECDOTE

Reform Resistance

Past healthcare reform attempts, like Vermont's single-payer effort, faced public resistance.
Colorado's ballot initiative for single-payer was overwhelmingly rejected.

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Navigating Health Care Reform Perspectives

03:36 • 27min

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Navigating Health Insurance Churn

30:44 • 18min

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The Complexities of Polling and Political Sentiment

48:55 • 3min

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Historical Context of U.S. Healthcare Reform and Its Impact

51:41 • 2min

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Navigating Healthcare Reform Challenges

53:59 • 22min

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Rethinking National Healthcare: From Employers to Government Management

01:15:49 • 4min

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Navigating Healthcare Paradigms

01:19:39 • 21min

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Understanding Health Care Triage and Waiting Times

01:40:39 • 2min

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Navigating Healthcare Reform: A Pragmatic Journey

01:42:53 • 20min

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Remedy and reaction

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In *Remedy and Reaction*, Paul Starr provides a comprehensive history of the U.S. healthcare system, tracing its development from early attempts at reform to the passage of the Affordable Care Act. The book explores why healthcare has become a contentious issue in American politics and how past policies have shaped the current system. Starr examines key events, including the Clinton health plan and Mitt Romney's reforms in Massachusetts, to understand the challenges of achieving universal healthcare in the U.S.

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The Democratic primary has been unexpectedly dominated by a single question: Will you abolish private health insurance?

Wrapped in that question are dozens more. Why, if private health insurance is such a mess, do polls show most Americans want to keep it? What lessons should we take from the failure of past efforts at health reform? What does it mean to say “if you like your health insurance plan, you can keep it?”

Matt Bruenig, the founder of the People’s Policy Project, is firmly in support of true single-payer. No compromise, no chaser. He’s frustrated by those, like me, who try to work around the public’s resistance to disruptive change, who treat past failures and current polls as predictions about the future. And, in turn, I’m often frustrated by Matt’s tendency, mirrored by many on the left, to treat people with similar goals but different theories of reform as villains and shills.

In this podcast, Matt and I hash it out. The questions here are deep ones. When are political constraints real, and when are they invented by the people asserting their existence? If you already believe the political system is broken and corrupt, how can you entrust it to take over American health care? Can you cleave policy from politics? What would the ideal health care system look like, and why?

Book recommendations:

A Theory of Justice by John Rawls

What Is Property? by P. J. Proudhon

The Progressive Assault on Laissez Fair by Barbara H. Fried

Ezra’s recommended reading:

One Nation, Uninsured by Jill Quadagno

Remedy and Reaction by Paul Starr

It's the Institutions, Stupid! by Sven Steinmo, Jon Watts

Want to contact the show? Reach out at ezrakleinshow@vox.com

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