General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Medicare for all is so much cheaper and simpler than subsidizing insurance companies [View all]unblock
(52,199 posts)and some things can reasonably coexist.
there's no compelling reason for government to be in the luxury yacht business. let the private sector handle that.
there's no compelling reason for businesses to be in the business of deciding people's health insurance. if insurance is involved at all, the government should be handling it. there are advantages to having the largest pool, and having a single payer.
there are some industries where both may make sense. mail delivery, e.g. there's a compelling interest in making sure that every american can receive mail, hence the usps mandate to get mail to anyone in america, even remote areas of alaska. meanwhile, there's no reason why people who are willing to pay extra for overnight delivery can't use the private sector for that.
different objectives. the government has an interest in serving everyone, and fairly; the private sector has an interest in not serving unprofitable customers in exchange for better service for more profitable ones.
in healthcare, there's a compelling interest in making sure *everyone* gets healthcare, so government at least needs to handle things like emergency medicine, communicable diseases, etc. and it's reasonable for the private sector to handle cosmetic surgery (in cases where it's optional -- vanity vs. burn or cancer, e.g.).
the only interesting political argument, to my mind, is where to draw the line. not sure i have a good answer for that other than i would prefer the government handle more rather than less in the interest of fairness.