Posted on 03/23/2019 1:04:34 PM PDT by reaganaut1
At the heart of the “Medicare for all” proposals championed by Senator Bernie Sanders and many Democrats is a revolutionary idea: Abolish private health insurance.
Proponents want to sweep away our complex, confusing, profit-driven mess of a health care system and start fresh with a single government-run insurer that would cover everyone.
But doing away with an entire industry would also be profoundly disruptive. The private health insurance business employs at least a half a million people, covers about 250 million Americans, and generates roughly a trillion dollars in revenues. Its companies’ stocks are a staple of the mutual funds that make up millions of Americans’ retirement savings.
Such a change would shake the entire health care system, which makes up a fifth of the United States economy, as hospitals, doctors, nursing homes and pharmaceutical companies would have to adapt to a new set of rules. Most Americans would have a new insurer — the federal government — and many would find the health insurance stocks in their retirement portfolios much less valuable.
“We’re talking about changing flows of money on just a huge scale,” said Paul Starr, a sociology professor at Princeton University and author of “The Social Transformation of American Medicine: The Rise of a Sovereign Profession and the Making of a Vast Industry.”
“There’s no precedent in American history that compares to this,” he said.
Economists have begun wrestling with basic questions about what this sort of change would mean and disagreeing over whether it would cost more or less than the country’s current health care system.
No one has examined the full economic impact of such plans on jobs, wages, investors, doctors and hospitals — or the health insurance companies themselves.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
If you think that public schools are doing a great job educating our kids, and if you think the federal social programs have successfully eradicated poverty and homelessness and mental illness, then maybe you would like to make all doctors employees of the federal government.
But I am certain the doctors and nurses don't want that.
The Democrats had their chance. The rammed the ACA/Obamacare down our throats. They said it would get healthcare for all, keep our doctors, and lower costs. None of that was true. All it gave us was a mandate to buy insurance, massively higher premiums and deductibles, and fewer medical choices. Forced medical insurance is not the same as guaranteed medical care. They had the chance and blew it. Why on earth should we trust them this time?
Just like we had speakeasys during Prohibition, we’ll just have clandestine medical practices where those who can afford it will get the health care they need without the DMV-length lines and without the bureaucracy.
You want government run health care? We have it, it's called the VA medical system. It's proven to be incapable of serving the existing veterans. So it should be expanded to the rest of the country. Medicare is heading for bankruptcy, and more and more doctors have pulled out of both medicare AND medicade.
Regarding outlawing private insurance and non-governmental medical providers? This was tried in Canada. Canada said it would cover everyone, and it did cover all Canadians with government provided health insurance. But due to extremely long waits for critical services, some Canadians sued the government, stating that having insurance was very different than having health care, and the Canadian supreme court agreed, and reversed the law that outlawed private insurance and medical care.
Regarding my first "question," it was rhetorical. Being a leftist requires huge amounts of hubris. Their failed policies weren't at fault. The people who implemented them weren't smart enough to make it work. But THIS bunch of leftists will finally make it work, because the current crop of leftists is the bestest, smartest, wokest ever.
Mark
Imagine that... and then a death panel decides you can't have the needed treatment, and they make that decision based on an audit of your online social media history. Or, your coverage is just discontined for the same reason. Or maybe you made a joke about a Demwit guvnah who appeared in blackface, or how his LG is a rapist, and the leftist appointees managing Medicare says you've violated rules of conduct they've made for you, so your coverage is going to be discontinued. And while any of this is going on, Snopes is saying that it isn't going on and has never gone on. And partisan urinalists label it all a conspiracy theory, and blame the Trump presidency for your attitude. Thanks reaganaut1.
Patient must not have been a Good Democrat. They should have voted Democrat, contributed to all the most radical causes, and made sure that their social responsibility score showed they were down for the cause. Otherwise, this is the future for those who oppose the power of the Uniparty state.
There is a BIG difference between a private insurance company “SERVING” it’s client base, and a government which is “RESPONSIBLE” for providing health care.
If my insurance company fails to meet my needs, I can go somewhere else to PAY for the best service.
If my government denies me that choice by MONOPOLIZING it’s control over the industry, THEY OWN ME!
Whomever is in control of your basic needs is YOUR MASTER
Single payer = SOCIALISM = SLAVERY
My friend is on a low cost high deductible plan where regular visits are negotiated, but not paid for. Kid sees the same doctor, he pays 60 cash.
Essentially, the doctor’s office is saying they need an extra $60 to do insurance paperwork. Not sure if that plan is available anymore post Obamacare.
yup
Works for trannies.
which means that the middle class will be footing the bill for the millions and millions who won't work, don't save, don't care.....and all those illegals....
Why is that a problem? They could learn to code.
“Proponents want to sweep away our complex, confusing, profit-driven mess of a health care system and start fresh with a complex, confusing, rationed care-driven mess of a single government-run insurer that would “cover” everyone.”
Fixed it.
Medicare is horrendous. I’m dealing with them over my mom’s health care. She has a supplemental private federal insurance. If she could use BC independently, there would be no issues.
>
Abolish government regulation of medical insurance beyond contract and truth in packaging. That would go a long way to reducing costs. Remove the Feds entirely from medicine and insurance and watch costs drop like a stone. If the government were to severely sanction countries that clone US patent meds unless they are sold at generic prices and watch prices of new drugs come way down as the rest of the world begins to have to pay its share of development costs.
Alas, governments are unfamiliar with common sense.
>
Considering the idea of health CARE vs. INSURANCE has been perverted from any semblance of definitions...
Removing from 3rd-party (employer) to USER would do a great deal as well.
Concur w/ your point: REMOVE GOVT.
That’s right, if I have to have both my legs amputated above the knee everyone should!!
So, basically, when they say it’s not a power grab, they’re flat out lying.
You eliminate half a million jobs, a trillion in outstanding cash in the marketplace and the stock market crashes to about 4,000, costing about 50 trillion in value to be lost overnight, you can’t possibly think that it’s a good thing.
They don’t care. They just want raw power.
Not to mention the devastation that would be wreaked on the stock market, bankrupting half the companies and individuals in the country.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.