Rockefeller says AMA coming around

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has this to say about health care reform:

After years of incremental improvements in health care, Rockefeller said it is time for Congress to focus on a comprehensive solution.

"Even people who have health insurance don't believe they will have it next week, because no one can afford it," he said.

The American College of Physicians' recent endorsement of single-payer, universal health care is a sign that change could be coming soon, Rockefeller said. The organization has 124,000 members and is the nation's largest medical specialty group.

"The (American Medical Association), some of whose board members I know, are not far away," he said. "It doesn't mean it's going to happen, because there's such a mindset against one solution for all. But it shows the range we're working in."

One solution for all?

I still don't quite understand how that works in the health care debate.

Is it like one solution for all, in terms of police or fire protection? In fact, we all want the one solution, don't we? That would be police and fire departments keeping us safe. In the same way, we want our health care system to keep us safe. If we're in a car accident, we want treatment. If we get diabetes, we want treatment. If we have a bad belly ache, we want treatment. So yes. One solution. Health care. Police protection. Fire departments.

Those of us in favor of single-payer are not advocating for some giant system parallel to a nightmare version of the same regimented public school track for all. We're advocating for what the right is calling for in the case of universal education -- that is, government guarantee of an education, but you get to chose the school according to what's right for your child.

I hope that the AMA continues to evolve towards a more generous position.