That last quote is the key one. When business gets behind a single-payer system it will happen quite quickly. Anerican manufacturing companies are getting killed by health care costs. This is the single biggest change that could help them become more competitive.

That Commonwealth Fund report is a must-read. Here are some choice excerpts with emphasis added:

Even more troubling, the U.S. health system is on the wrong track. Overall, performance has not improved since the first National Scorecard was issued in 2006. Of greatest concern, access to health care has significantly declined. As of 2007, more than 75 million adults--42 percent of all adults ages 19 to 64--were either uninsured during the year or underinsured, up from 35 percent in 2003. At the same time, the U.S. failed to keep pace with gains in health outcomes achieved by the leading countries. The U.S. now ranks last out of 19 countries on a measure of mortality amenable to medical care, falling from 15th as other countries raised the bar on performance. Up to 101,000 fewer people would die prematurely if the U.S. could achieve leading, benchmark country rates

That's over 100,000 real lives lost because of lack of health care. No disrespect to our military, but the loss of American lives in Iraq pales in comparison to this preventable loss of lives back at home.

The U.S. spends twice per capita what other major industrialized countries spend on health care, and costs continue to rise faster than income. We are headed toward $1 of every $5 of national income going toward health care. We should expect a better return on this investment.

Performance on measures of health system efficiency remains especially low, with the U.S. scoring 53 out of 100 on measures gauging inappropriate, wasteful, or fragmented care; avoidable hospitalizations; variation in quality and costs; administrative costs; and use of information technology. Lowering insurance administrative costs alone could save up to $100 billion a year at the lowest country rates.

There is no disputing that the U.S. needs universal health care now. It will help our economy and save lives. We're paying twice what other countries pay and getting way worse results. $100 billion a year is being lost to administrative costs. With 42% of the non-Medicare people uninsured or underinsured, that means the 58% of us that are insured are covering the costs for everyone. Our current system is not fair to anyone, ends up costing too much and has terrible results. The time has come for universal health care.

(This is a repeat of my comments in another diary about the Commonwealth Fund report, but health care diaries don't get the attention they should so I'm reposting it.)

Far too many people resist single-payer, because they already have insurance and are afraid they will be giving something up. The sad truth is that their current insurance is probably inadequate for a real health crisis. The number of families forced into bankruptcy because of medical bills has been rising steadily. I have had personal experience with this.

My fiancee had a $1,000,000 lifetime cap on her insurance. During her 12 month illness, she went through more than $2,000,000 in bills. The estate is still going through probate. The hospital and doctors submitted $1,500,000 in unpaid bills.

She is no longer here and doesn't have to face losing everything she worked her whole life to get. Other families aren't in that situation. If one person gets sick the whole family is affected by a bankruptcy.

I wish people would wake up to the fact that, even if they are insured under the current system, they are one serious illness away from losing everything.