Single payer?

Regarding “Clearing a direct path to single-payer care” (Page A17, Friday), I was amazed at Charles Krauthammer’s perspective on the possibility that we may be on the road to a single-payer health care system.

There are three points to be made about that possibility. First, legislators must visit other developed countries where single-payer systems are in place to determine what has worked well in each. We will be the last developed country to adopt a single-payer system, so we would be dumb not to learn from the mistakes and successes of others.

Second, as a Medicare recipient, I know that Medicare needs some serious repairs before it is expanded into a single-payer system. Foremost is the ability to negotiate drug prices and refuse to pay for overpriced drugs with generic equivalents.

Third, while the government may collect the money to run a singlepayer system, it must not be run by anything associated with the federal government. At the top, such a system must be run by a small group of directly elected experts. There are to be no political parties or campaign contributions to these people or anyone running against them.

Members of this small group must be held directly accountable to the people — no politicians, industry influences, or appointees would be allowed. John T. James, founder Patient Safety America, Houston