NORTHAMPTON — Daniel Marotta recalled how a 9-year-old he treated for significant health issues was looking at a weekend without his medication because a prior authorization delayed his prescriptions.
Luckily, he told the City Council on Thursday during public comment, he worked with others on the boy’s behalf and was able to obtain an emergency supply. But stress to that family and time spent on a Friday evening were both unnecessary and costly.
“How long are we going to endure short-term fixes at the cost of lasting reform?” he asked the dozens who cheered at his remarks.
Marotta was one of many to urge councilors to pass a resolution in support of a state bill establishing Medicare for all, or a single-payer system. Councilors passed the resolution unanimously in first reading.
Councilors and the crowd agreed the current health care system is costly, complicated and cruel. Some 31 percent of every health care dollar spent goes to paperwork and administrative costs, the resolution reads.
“Universal health care would eliminate an enormous amount of wasted time,” said Margaret Miller, a Northampton psychologist, adding that time spent on insurance-related paperwork should be redirected to the patient. “If it’s confusing to the patient, it’s equally confusing to the practitioner.”
The resolution also states Medicare covers 55 million Americans at 3 percent overhead.
The current system also leaves many uncovered, undercovered and suffering.
Lucy Garbus, a nurse practitioner, said there are entire offices full of people working on behalf of providers simply to ensure patients’ health care is in working order.
“These children living in poverty are the most vulnerable in our society,” she said, urging those with power to remove road blocks that impede practitioners’ ability to treat them.
Physician Marty Nathan recalled how one man under her care refused to go to the hospital while having a heart attack because he knew he couldn’t afford the bill.
Stories like this, residents agreed, underscore the need for immediate change — this bill should languish no more, they said.
“Where do we start? Locally,” Susan Lantz told councilors. “We’re asking you to be a cog in the wheel to wake up our legislators.”
And if the sad stories don’t move you to support a single-payer plan, Michelle Serra said, then its cost-saving qualities should.
“It really is a very rational approach to health care,” Serra said, adding not only will it save lives, but “will save us trillions of dollars.”
Now that the “grotesquely misnamed” health care plans put forward by President Donald Trump and his administration have failed, said City Councilor Alisa Klein, it’s time to look at ways to address health care at the state level.
“Health care is a right — not a privilege,” agreed City Councilor Marianne LaBarge.
Council President Bill Dwight called the resolution “just a little push” toward deploying a less reactive and more proactive health care system.
“This is where it starts,” he said. “It needs, at the very least, a serious conversation.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.