The Single Payer Solution?

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Washington), newly installed as the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, tells Politico that he opposes Republican attempts to repeal ObamaCare, either all at once or piece by piece.

"The Republicans should stop this repeal stuff and get on with fixing it, and I hope that we move to that stage pretty quickly," McDermott says, which is somewhat interesting in that it suggests that McDermott thinks the health law is broken and in need of fixing. He also claims to not know what the GOP's health care "agenda really is." But McDermott isn't exactly forthcoming with details either. He suggests he might be for cost-saving reforms, but he also makes sure to note that he's "not willing to say you have to cut benefits." So what sort of reforms would he support? McDermott isn't pushing anything specifically right now, but perhaps a clue to his long-term dream can be found in Politico's opening line, which reports that in "McDermott's ideal world, health reform would have meant a single-payer health care system."