Democratic Primaries
In reply to the discussion: U.S. Voters Back Medicare Expansion but Not Eliminating Private Insurance [View all]athena
(4,187 posts)Last edited Tue Sep 24, 2019, 01:52 PM - Edit history (1)
I have lived in Canada. I know what it's like there. When you're sick, you go to the doctor, and you get care. You never owe anything. You pay for it as part of your taxes, but the additional amount you pay in your taxes for health care is much lower than what we pay in the United States for health insurance (which not only doesn't necessarily cover everything but comes with co-pays and deductibles that go up every year).
Even people who are in unions will get better health care under a single-payer health care system than they do in the current system. The only reason you think they won't is because we have been led to believe in this country to believe that health care costs a lot more than it needs to.
Think about the following: currently, hospitals are allowed to charge $4 or more for a single Band-Aid. Under a single-payer system, they wouldn't be able to do this. There would be only one insurer ( the "single payer" ), i.e., the government, which would regulate the costs for things. As a result, there would be a lot less paperwork. On top of that, the government is not a for-profit business with top executives who want high salaries and bonuses, so a lot less money would be wasted in administrative costs. Finally, no money would be wasted on advertising.
I will never understand why Americans are so much more comfortable having a private company deal with the payment for their health care than they are having the government deal with it. You have zero power with a private insurer. They are under no obligation to prove anything to you. With single-payer health care, on the other hand, if you don't agree with something, you can get it changed through the political system: you can write to your representatives; you can engage in grassroots activism. It would be much harder for the government to refuse to cover a procedure than it is for private insurance companies.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided