General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: HR 676 !!! - Let's put Single Payer into the conversation: [View all]ehrnst
(32,640 posts)No, we don't know from a few decades of experience how upending 17% of the GDP works will go - and that really can't be done in under 20 years without severe negative consequences to the healthcare delivery system, especially for rural residents.
http://khn.org/news/democrats-unite-but-what-happened-to-medicare-for-all/
It's not that simple. It sounds simple to people who don't understand the health care system in this country. And no, those who say that there are far more obstacles to single payer than simply "putting everyone on Medicare" aren't always paid shills. Many are politically neutral health care policy experts with no ties to the insurance or healthcare industries.
One of the bigger mistakes that Obama made in getting people on board with the ACA was saying, "You can keep your doctor," when NOBODY is guaranteed that they can keep their doctor - your employer might change plans, your physician might drop out of your network. I did a headdesk when he said that - and misrepresenting something as Medicare because people like Medicare is as big a mistake.
Single payer or medicare for all or bust should not become dogma. Universal health care is the goal - and it doesn't have to follow either a single payer or medicare model.
One thing that HRC talked about in her plan in 2008 was that they made the mistake in 1993 by repeating "cover the uninsured" without addressing the fears of those that had insurance. I think that's why Obama made the mistake he did, he didn't learn the right lesson.
We have to tailor the message to the people who have insurance - which is the majority - because the GOP will talk only about what they will lose. One of the big differences between our current system and the system that was in place in the earlier part of the 20th century in Europe is that their population was just happy to be able to see a physician at all. Health care was also far less expensive - no chemo, no triple bypasses, etc. They were different than the US population today - who wants to keep their own doctor, doesn't want to see a nurse practitioner, wants to have rx coverage, etc. I loved my health care in the UK, even thought the local clinic looked more like a DMV than a clinic here. I was just glad to have any coverage. The majority of the US is used to something much more upscale.