<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large"><br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">From: <b class="gmail_sendername" dir="auto">Howard Waitzkin</b> <span dir="auto"><<a href="mailto:waitzkin@unm.edu">waitzkin@unm.edu</a>></span><br></div><br>



<div style="word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><span class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large">N</span><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">ew publication on "<span class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large">U</span>niversal health coverage" (UHC):</span><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"></span>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 15pt 0.5in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:white">Smithers DJ, Waitzkin H. Universal health coverage as hegemonic
 health policy in low- and middle-income countries. <i>Social Science & Medicine</i>, </span><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114961" target="_blank"><span><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;background-color:white;text-decoration:none" lang="PT">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114961</span></span></a><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:white">.</span><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:white"></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 0in 15pt;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:white">Until mid-June, the article is available open-access at this link: </span><a href="https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1f10V-CmUvqlm" target="_blank"><span><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:white">https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1f10V-CmUvqlm</span></span></a><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:white">.
 A press release appears on EurekAlert! (</span><a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/951147" target="_blank"><span><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:white">https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/951147</span></span></a><span><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:white">)</span></span><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:white"> </span><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:white"></span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">DJ Smithers is the lead author. He is a medical and public health student and activist in Boston, about to begin a residency
 in internal medicine. <br></span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">“Universal health coverage” (UHC) involves the same basic approach as privatized Medicare with contracting to private insurance
 corporations, Obamacare, and similar World Bank proposals and programs in various countries. This approach usually calls for increased public spending to buy health insurance from private corporations for individuals and families without insurance. Typically,
 such policies enact several different “tiers” of insurance coverage with a varying range of services covered depending on how much people can afford to pay. These policies also usually include copayments which have been found in prior research to decrease
 the use of needed health services, especially for poorer individuals. So “universal” health coverage in practice is not really universal, and its financial structure increases unnecessary bureaucracy and costs. </span><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:18pt">In contrast, “Health Care for All” (HCA) is a policy that provides the same comprehensive services for an entire population.
 This unified approach does not involve different “tiers” of coverage according to people’s ability to pay, and private insurance companies cannot sell insurance coverage for services covered by the national system. Such a “single payer” system drastically
 reduces administrative waste and controls costs while it provides universal access to care. The article gives examples of HCA in countries that successfully have implemented single-payer systems or are trying to do so.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:18pt">We would welcome constructive feedback.</span></p>
<p style="margin-top:0in;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Howard<span class="gmail_default" style="font-size:large"> Waitzkin</span></span><span style="font-size:18pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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