Is single-payer the best solution for America’s health care conundrum?

The United States spends more on medical care than any other country in the developed world —about 18 percent of our gross domestic product, almost twice the average of other wealthy countries. Maybe that’s why nearly 7 out of every 10 Americans say cutting health care costs should be a top priority of Congress. But how to cut those costs and make health care available to everyone is a thorny question.

Monday, Kerri Miller dug into the concept of universal, or single-payer, health care. Is it really the best solution to fix a health care system that’s badly in need of repair? What would it cost? How would we pay for it? How would it affect quality? And maybe most important to the consumer – how would it affect the bottom line? Two experts joined Miller to sort out the single-payer proposals.

Guests:

• Adam Gaffney, a critical care physician in Cambridge, Mass., and president of Physicians for a National Health Program

• Bradley Herring, professor of health economics at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Use the audio player above to hear their conversation.

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