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why..... because singlepayer would cost 6.5+ trillion dollars annually on top of our 4 trillion dollars budget...…
Nope. Single payer simply replaces all private insurers with a single insurer which may be private or may be government run. Currently we pay $3.2 trillion for healthcare in the US. Under single payer we would continue to pay $3.2 trillion but it would all be handled by a single insurer. This is the simplest form of single-payer. Most researchers believe that costs will come down which will means more benefits can be added at no additional costs.
You can envision other single-payer programs that offer more but cost more. The fact is, nothing is set in stone yet as to what single payer would offer and exactly how much it will cost, but it is certainly possible to have a single payer system that costs exactly the same as we pay today. Just make that a requirement and design around it.
Because this country is corrupted by lobbyists from Pharma and healthcare. The medical industrial complex is bigger than defense in the US and the lobbyists do not want to let a good thing go. They will fight tooth and nail any effort to rein in costs because it will affect their profits. That is problem #1.
Problem #2 is that basically Americans are not very sympathetic to people less fortunate than themselves so if they get any inclination that they are paying for someone else's medical treatments they raise holy hell. This problem is more pronounced among Republicans but even a lot of Dems are nervous about M4A.
So basically it is an uphill fight.
Problem #3 = Most Americans are covered under an employers plan and are clueless on how much it really costs. They don't understand that medical coverage is part of their compensation package and if costs were lowered they would likely see the excess in their paycheck. I see it so many times here on city data where someone says "I only pay 100 per month on my employer plan".
Problem #3 = Most Americans are covered under an employers plan and are clueless on how much it really costs. They don't understand that medical coverage is part of their compensation package and if costs were lowered they would likely see the excess in their paycheck. I see it so many times here on city data where someone says "I only pay 100 per month on my employer plan".
Why? Because the USA is dysfunctional in many ways.
We have over a half million Americans filing bankruptcy every year because of medical bills, in fact 2/3 of all bankruptcies are due to medical costs.
One third of the US population is under insured for health care which leads directly to financial disaster for many, not to mention the suffering and premature death caused by insufficient access to health care.
The richest nation in the world in terms of wealth and we still have this situation? It is pathetic. But not surprising when you step back and look at the disintegrating fabric of our society. Wealth inequality will increase since our legislature is owned by corporations and billionaires. Trump is the perfect enabler for this system as he keeps directing the nation's attention from the real crisis.
My question is why government doesn't do it's JOB and start prosecuting the medical industry under current law. USC 15
We need to force insurance companies to be real insurance companies. None of this "in net work" and "out of network" B.S. they play with the medical providers. You have a health issue insurance PAYS. None of this collusion on pricing. Auto insurance pays for claims regardless of where the incident happens; so should medical insurance providers.
There shouldn't be different pricing structures depending on how you are paying for the service. Gas stations can't price gasoline based on who your insurance company is or MORE if you don't have insurance. How come medical providers can?
Pricing should be agreed upon with a legally binding estimate before you receive service. If you are incapacitated you should be charged a like amount for similar procedures.
Why can't I start importing prescription drugs from other countries for resale here in the U.S. ? If the drugs are safe enough for a citizen of another country why aren't they "safe" for Americans? It isn't about protecting Americans; its about protecting drug companies profits.
We are being screwed by our elected officials that 1) Won't do their jobs and 2) Are getting their cut of the financial action from lobbyists.
Remove profit motive from a business that has been extremely profitable is near impossible for us as a country to swallow.
Everything else is an excuse... esp those that say it would take some very very yuge tax dollars or that government is dysfunctional (yet fire, police etc are fine)...
In a perfect world it would however you are probably correct.
in the VERY long run, things would adjust.
If done as a payroll tax done at the current rate companies pay to private health insurance, there would be less adjustment.
Congress will NOT bite the hand that feeds it and big pharma and big hospitals are big hands feeding them. The cost end is HUGE and nothing will be done.
Bureaucratic inefficiency would kill more than it might help.
Tax money lost to fraud, inefficiency, legal corruption and tolerance for the loss are the earmark of government bureaucracy.
When a legislative body passes a 2k plus pages of legislation and never read or understood what was in it, no good can come to those who are burdened with such a massive yoke.
PPACA broke the bond between patient and doctor, so critical to healing and healthcare. As do teacher's unions, they consider anyone with a degree as being equally qualified to teach and treat.
We know there are docs we don't like for whatever reason and docs we do trust with our lives. the government run healthcare scam forces you to take whatever doc will accept obamacare/medicare and deal with it.
PPACA and out of Obama's mouth take the red pill vs the blue pill because it is cheaper. Ignores individual response to meds. Demonstrates the sheer stupidity of government bureaucrats who you want to entrust your life??????????????????????????????????
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