Indian Health Service stinks, but we support single-payer and ObamaCare…

Barbara K. Webber heads Health Action New Mexico and had an opinion piece in the Albuquerque Journal recently. The basic message of the piece is that ObamaCare is great and that New Mexicans should be thrilled by this wonderful new law. But a secondary message of the piece is that Native Americans will also benefit from the new law.

As Webber notes:

Native Americans in New Mexico also stand to benefit from better access to health care plans – particularly important for our state, where they make up more than 10 percent of the population. Improving access and quality of care is something our tribal communities desperately need.

Native Americans in New Mexico experience large health disparities compared to the rest of the state and are more likely to be sicker and die younger. They also are face unique obstacles in access and affordability of care.

This set off my radar as the Indian Health Service, like the VA (which is in the midst of a scandal which I discussed here), is a single-payer system.

So, ObamaCare, which is not quite single-payer, but is taking us in that direction, is going to pick up the slack for the Indian Health Service which is causing problems in terms of access and affordability of care…interesting. And, just to be clear, Health Action supports single payer.

The only answer is market-based reforms to our health care system, but that won’t happen until ObamaCare fully implodes and Republicans stand up to the insurance companies by moving insurance to the sidelines (and putting power back in patients’ hands) in US health care.