If universal healthcare were a drug, we’d all be taking it

According to a study in the May 6 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, death rates fell significantly in Massachusetts after the state enacted Obamacare-like health reform in 2006 and 2007. The highlights from WebMD’s coverage:

In the four years after the law took effect in Massachusetts, deaths from all causes dropped nearly 3 percent [emphasis mine] compared with similar counties in states without health reform, the study found.

The largest gains in life occurred in counties with high poverty and higher rates of uninsured adults before health reform.

“If you think health reform is what’s causing this change, that’s the pattern you should see, that the people who benefit the most are lower-income and … uninsured,” [Dr. Benjamin Sommers, assistant professor of health policy and economics at Harvard School of Public Health and the study’s lead author] said.

A three percent drop in all-cause mortality?! The debate really is over. If universal healthcare were a drug, we’d all be taking it, and some Big Pharma company would be getting very rich.

All I can say is thank you — genuinely — to the conservatives at the Heritage Foundation who conceived of this method of healthcare reform in the 1990s, and to Governor Mitt Romney who piloted it in Massachusetts. Even though I’m a single payer girl myself, this market-based solution is already having a meaningful impact.

Next up, the public option (I hope). Letting Americans of any age buy into Medicare could bring even more competition and transparency to the market.