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Washington University in St. Louis News & Information > Faculty Experts at Washington University in St. Louis >
Walter D. Coles Professor Emeritus of Law
Expertise: social security, health insurance
Bio:
Merton Bernstein, a nationally recognized expert on Social Security, served as principal consultant to the National Commission on Social Security Reform, counsel to the National Enforcement Commission, attorney for the National Labor Relations Board, counsel to the United States Senate Subcommittee on Labor and Labor-Management Relations, legislative assistant to United States Senator Wayne Morse, and special counsel to the United States Senate Subcommittee on Railroad Retirement. In addition to giving speeches and presentations on Social Security, Bernstein has had numerous opinion pieces published on Social Securitr Reform.
WUSTL Contact Information:
| Work: | 508-896-8383 |
| Cell: | 508-451-9223 |
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Education:
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A.B. at Oberlin College
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LL.B. at Columbia University
| News Stories & Tip Sheets: |
Showing 4 Stories.
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Universal health care - expert available for comment
Major health care proposals ignore the 'Big Leak,' says health insurance expert
Sept. 18,
2007 -- "Universal health care is getting the attention it deserves, but unfortunately, the proposals receiving the most attention ignore the 'Big Leak,'" the enormous non-benefit costs incurred by health care providers who must match their billions of billings with thousands of differing private health care plans," says Merton C. Bernstein, a founding member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Coles Professor of Law Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis. "Putting everyone under the Medicare umbrella would eliminate that leak," he says. Bernstein is available to discuss current universal health care proposals as well as the Medicare-for-all option.
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Solving America?s health insurance problem
Key to affordable universal health care is Medicare-for-all, says insurance expert
Oct. 3,
2005 --
"Imagine an electrical appliance industry with plugs of 9,000 different shape and sizes that need one of 9,000 matching sockets to work. Preposterous as that is, that's the "design" of American health insurance - tens of thousands of medical care providers must plug their billions of billings into thousands of differing insurance policies," says Merton C. Bernstein, a founding member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Coles Professor of Law Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis. "This wasteful design has its silver lining, though. Eliminating administrative costs through universal Medicare coverage, or Medicare-for-All, would save as much as $280 to $300 billion a year, enough to pay for covering the 45 million uninsured. "
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Universal health care coverage
Medicare-for-All is the prescription for taming health care costs, says insurance expert
April 6,
2005 --
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| Eliminating the need to ascertain eligibility. |
Years of double-digit increases in health care costs are devastating business, federal, state and family budgets. While the United States pays more per capita for health care than any other industrialized country, 44 million people lack assured care. "Most people overlook the most affordable way to achieve universal coverage - putting all of us under the Medicare umbrella," says Merton C. Bernstein, a founding member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and the Coles Professor of Law Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis. "That single-payer system would reduce non-benefit spending by doctors, hospitals, clinics, laboratories and health care insurers by about $300 billion a year, providing funds to insure everyone without additional outlays."
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Undermining the security of Social Security
Call to privatize Social Security a mistake, says labor law expert
Sept. 22,
2004 -- President George W. Bush's recent push for the establishment of an ownership society features partial privatization of Social Security by diverting a portion of the payroll tax into individual accounts. "Privatizing Social Security is a dangerous idea," says Merton Bernstein, a nationally recognized expert on Social Security. "Despite widespread criticism and misunderstanding, Social Security is in good shape for the future and its funding can be made solid by modest measures. In contrast, privatization would cost $3.75 trillion."
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