Big Majority of Americans support Single Payer Healthcare

[disrupter]

Let's not be tyrannized by a small group of criminal elites & their beggar fools,

Single Payer or Nothing:

A majority of physicians (59%) and

an even higher proportion of Americans (at least 62%) support single payer national health insurance

or “Medicare-for-All”. In spite of this, virtually all we are hearing about today are mandate plans that would require everyone to buy the same private for-profit insurance that is already failing us. The for-profit insurance companies and their plethora of plans make for a terribly complex, fragmented, costly and inefficient system. Administrative overhead consumes about 31% of health care dollars in the United States, and the for-profit insurance companies are responsible for half of this, or 15% of $2.4 trillion. This money, more than $350 billion per year, provides no health care: it is consumed by enormous administrative costs, profits for investors and shareholders, and large salaries for managers of these for-profit insurance companies. http://www.counterpunch.org/wirt03032009.html

[Smurf-Herder]

Personally I don't see how having the US government as the Single Payer is a very bright idea. Private sector businesses have competition as an incentive to modify practices.

The US government as Single Payer puts everyone at the mercy of the US government; and whatever they feel like cutting back on in care to save money and raising taxes on to pay for it.

Look how well they handled Social Security and medicare. Now you want to give them total control over all our healthcare? That's stupid.

[foxbaron]

Have you ever sat down and tried to compare one insurance companies health care plan to another. Absolutely none of them are the same therefore they are not comparable.

Why not require all insurance companies to have the exact same standard plan for normal everyday health care at the exact same price nationwide. Then they can have additional plans you can buy into for catastrophic stuff like cancer, heart disease, etc.

The insurance companies can the offer discounts on the extended coverage to those that purchase their normal everyday health care plan from them.

The insurance company with the best catastrophic coverage wins because more people would probably buy from them.

The least they could do is make all insurance companies offer the exact same plans to everybody and let's see which insurance company is willing to charge the lowest premium.

Most things you buy in life are exactly the same in store A as they are in store B, the only difference is the price and or the service you get which is why you pick one over the other. Unfortunatley it is not like that with insurance, regardless of what type you are buying.

[foxbaron]

Have you ever sat down and tried to compare one insurance companies health care plan to another. Absolutely none of them are the same therefore they are not comparable.

Why not require all insurance companies to have the exact same standard plan for normal everyday health care at the exact same price nationwide. Then they can have additional plans you can buy into for catastrophic stuff like cancer, heart disease, etc.

The insurance companies can the offer discounts on the extended coverage to those that purchase their normal everyday health care plan from them.

The insurance company with the best catastrophic coverage wins because more people would probably buy from them.

The least they could do is make all insurance companies offer the exact same plans to everybody and let's see which insurance company is willing to charge the lowest premium.

Most things you buy in life are exactly the same in store A as they are in store B, the only difference is the price and or the service you get which is why you pick one over the other. Unfortunatley it is not like that with insurance, regardless of what type you are buying.

[disrupter]

It is private insurance's mission to get as much premium money from you while you are healthy,

& then drop you from coverage as soon as you get sick,

so you go bankrupt & die sick & ill & homeless.

It is a travesty how private insurers rape the American people.

Keep in mind, this is what they do to the people who are supposedly 'insured'.

[ROdger Right]

I must be on the otter fringe. I still believe in captialism.

[The_Limit]

I must be on the otter fringe. I still believe in captialism.

What does this even mean?

What does you believing in 'capitalism' have to do with the decaying health system in the United States?

[ROdger Right]

Competition although it may be viewed as evil because it seeks profits is still better than a monopoly which will have the power to do anything it chooses.

[The_Limit]

Competition although it may be viewed as evil because it seeks profits is still better than a monopoly which will have the power to do anything it chooses.

I'm sorry but you did not answer the question. You did anything but offer a sensible answer. I'll ask again...

...what does you believing in 'capitalism' have to do with the decaying health system in the United States?

[ROdger Right]

Its better than the alternative. That is all that can be said for it.

[MintJulep]

...what does you believing in 'capitalism' have to do with the decaying health system in the United States?Free market principles result in a higher quality healthcare system than anything government run.

Look to your local DMV for an example of the quality and service standards the govt represents.

[The_Limit]

Its better than the alternative. That is all that can be said for it.

I'm not talking about government systems.

I'm talking about health care policy and the various approaches to administering it.

What does you 'believing in capitalism' have to do with the administration of health care?

I'm not going to let you off the hook.

[ROdger Right]

Ok tell me whats the alternative and ill give a satisfactory answer.

Do you wish to regulate the market even more?>

I have a hunch that costs will go down just like housing did.

[The_Limit]

Free market principles result in a higher quality healthcare system than anything government run.

Look to your local DMV for an example of the quality and service standards the govt represents.

1. The vast body of evidence, researched, published and peer reviewed in prestigious academic journals contradict your claim that 'Free market principles result in a higher quality health care system than anything government run.'

My desire isn't to get into technical debate with you. Though I will if pushed.

I do wish to be specific in my response. Therefore, I will get to the point. The most glaring hole in your claim is obvious. The U.S has never had a truly private system.

Therefore, we your 'readers' are left wondering what country you can possibly be referring to when you say 'free market principles' result in better care than x. Because I know one nation you should not be referring to, and thats the United States.

The U.S. federal government sends billions of dollars in subsidies to HMOs every year. The US spends more money per person than any industrialized nation on Earth.

The cold hard reality is HMOs simply could not operate without money handed to them by Uncle Sam.

The early days of the HMOs saw few Americans signing up. The coverage was awful. The health care plans worse. So nobody bothered to join. It was a bad start for the industry.

Legislation changed all that.

The health industry lobbied hard and finally got enough financial support to pass a bill that would see the private sector of the US health industry receive billions in subsidies from the government.

They argued that if they didn't get the help, they would collapse.

So what you see in the U.S. today is a hybrid system. A tangled mess of 'maybe its private system in this case, maybe its public system in that case.'

Truth is, no one really know what it is, when it is.

Thats what makes its so bad.

But the real point of this response is that you really have no clue what you're talking about and I suggest doing a little more homework on this issue.



2. I'm not going to comment on the DMV thing. Not only is it bizarre, it's a giant straw man fallacy.

[ROdger Right]

Then if hmos were allowed to fail wouldnt free market come up with something workable. If you dont let something fail then the free market cant be used aginst a "dybrid".

Another system thats corrupted and maintained by regulation.

[The_Limit]

Then if hmos were allowed to fail wouldnt free market come up with something workable.

The honest answer is absolutely not.

You cannot profit from the administering of health care inside a country the size of the U.S. without subsidies from a national government.

It cannot be done.

[ROdger Right]

Still waiting for the alternative....

[Cat slave]

Lets see now. We have to alternatives. One, is the government funded by
us, the overtaxed citizen, a glutted mass of bureaucracy and the inability to
do anything in a logical and efficient manner.

Or, we can have a system in which Ive never heard of anyone dying on the
side of the road or under their house because they couldnt get health care,
and while it is way over priced (primarily because of exorbitant prof. liability
insurance and frivolous law suits) but decisions are still mostly made between
the patient and the doctor and in the best interest of the patient.

Hell, even illegal aliens find plenty of health care for themselves in this country.
At our expense of course and to the detriment of our insurance premiums and
the extermination of ERs when they are used like walk in clinics for illegals.

With the almighty government heading up a health care system there would
be rationing, waste, rising taxes and lowering of quality. Theres probably
a real good reason people come here from countries with socialized health
care to obtain state of the art medical procedures and increase their
chances for a positive outcome ie survival!!!!

Who in their right mind would want this bungling cast of characters now
firmly entrenched in WA to decide squat about anyones health care???
Doesnt Freddie and Fannie give you a clue as to how this government
operates??? CRA?? Fwank, Dodd, Reid and Pelosi??? Can we say death
wish????

[Binky]

In my opinion, the less we have government intervention in our lives, the better off we all are. The government knows enough about our business now. Why give them control over our health as well?

[Smurf-Herder]

In my opinion, the less we have government intervention in our lives, the better off we all are. The government knows enough about our business now. Why give them control over our health as well?

All we are to the government are cash-crop worker drones.

[Cat slave]

All we are to the government are cash-crop worker drones.

No truer words!!!!!