MYTHS AND MEMES ABOUT SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH INSURANCE IN THE UNITED STATES: A REBUTTAL TO CONSERVATIVE CLAIMS

One of the key characteristics of agriculture is the inherent production risks facing producers from adverse weather, pests, and diseases. These risks have been used to justify government intervention in the form of disaster assistance payments, emergency loans, livestock feed assistance programs, crop insurance, and other subsidized assistance schemes. Yet, while government intervention to provide assistance has been widely supported in the United States, the form of assistance has been much debated. Since 1980, the principal form of crop loss assistance in the United States has been provided through the Federal Crop Insurance Program. The Federal Crop Insurance Act of 1980 was intended to replace disaster programs with a subsidized insurance program farmers could depend on in the...