A feature article published in the Journal of Oncology Practice contains an evidence-based appeal by two oncologists, including a past president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), for their colleagues to endorse a single-payer health system.

The authors are Dr. Ray Drasga, a longtime community-based oncologist who founded a free clinic in his own community of Crown Point, Ind., and Dr. Lawrence Einhorn, a distinguished professor of medicine at Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis.

In a cautionary reply to a new medical society report embracing accountable care organizations (ACOs) and bundled payment – two key reforms embedded in the Affordable Care Act – a team of prominent health researchers charge that history is about to repeat itself, to the detriment of both patients and physicians.

“Let’s hope that Orwell’s memory hole remains in good repair,” write Drs. David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler, alluding to the machine in George Orwell’s novel “1984” that incinerated memories of things more conveniently forgotten.