The health plan we support has many advantages compared to our current “Maze.” Cost-control in our system comes from using the “Medicare for All” approach, financing medical costs, as Medicare does, from public funding. This “single-payer” mechanism replaces the thousands of payers in Minnesota currently—HMOs, insurance companies, employers, and individuals—with one statewide payer. This eliminates the hundreds of insurance companies and other middlemen doctors must deal with currently. This system uses the basic market principle of “economies of scale,” eliminating unneeded levels of bureaucracy.

The Triangle starts with you, a Minnesotan. You pay a progressive state tax that will be, for most Minnesotans, less than the total you pay now in premiums, co-pays, deductibles, and non-covered care. You go see a doctor. The Dr. sends the bill to, and is paid by, the state payer. That’s it. Three parties. A triangle.

Cost Savings: Of 28 industrial democracies, the US is the only one not using some version of universal/single-payer health care. We spend more than twice as much per person annually on health care than these peer nations—except for Switzerland, which spends only 60% of what we spend.

Administrative costs for Medicare are 2%; for HMOs between 15-35%. Higher administrative costs means less $ available for medical treatment. Our system brings lower costs, more resources devoted to treating patients, reduced paperwork, and covers everyone, equally. If single-payer works for Medicare, it can work for all.

The Maze—A Failure. The Triangle—Proven to Work.