The 2019 Duncan W. Clark Lecture: “The Politics of ‘Single-Payer’ (and the Quest for an American Version of Universal Health Insurance)”

• Free
• Science & Health

The nation’s health policy debate increasingly includes calls for a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s healthcare system, eliminating the multi-payer private health insurance industry, and replacing it with publicly-funded coverage for all, referred to generally as a “single payer” insurer model. While the focus for most single-payer advocates (and some presidential candidates) is the movement for “Medicare-for-All,” there also are a handful of states (including New York) seriously considering a state-based single-payer program. In this talk, Professor Michael Sparer considers the politics of these single-payer proposals, at both the national and state level, while also summarizing his own views on the best path forward for an American version of universal health coverage.

Dr. Sparer’s lecture will be followed by a “fireside chat” with Elizabeth Fowler, JD, PhD and moderated by Kerry Griffin, MPA.