The single payer folks often get stereotyped as unreasonable radicals -- sometimes for cause, sometimes not -- but this is a perfectly sensible request. There's no reason the CBO shouldn't be asked to run the numbers on H.R. 676 (the leading single-payer bill). Single payer is, after all, the most common set-up for the health systems of industrialized nations. It's not some wild fantasy that doesn't deserve to be modeled. And sure, on some level, you can probably predict the outcome: Impressive cost savings leavened by concerns that innovation -- both in medical technology and in health coverage -- would retard and consumers would ache for choice. Having examined the evidence, Baucus and others would be within rights to prioritize choice or flexibility or another value that militates against single payer. But not before. There's also a question of procedural fairness here. It's unlikely, in my judgment, that the Obama administration and the congressional leadership are likely to embrace a national health plan. But it's important that single payer advocates at least feel their points were heard, and considered, and possibly even integrated. Seeing their ideas treated with respect may be the difference between reluctant support from that community and outright opposition to the final bill.
