Here's what your single payer healthcare funding would look like.

[dlbleak]

My mom and dad winter in Padre with many retired people from Canada. Almost all of them that can afford it and live within a reasonable distance to the border have a health policy in the states.

 

[SlugSlinger]

Capitalist medicine is great. My aunt started puking blood but had no health insurance… couldn’t afford to see dr… diagnosed with terminal cancer died early 50s…not saying you’re wrong but it goes both ways and ultimately insurance isn’t a miracle cure,..

With terminal cancer, would the appropriate healthcare have helped? My FIL was just diagnosed with lymphoma and it took a couple months for him to see the right doctor and he's on Medicare with additional coverage from his previous employer.

Ever since ubamacare, physicians have been quitting due to the onerous process to meet the requirements. I have family that was going into reconstructive surgery and changed her plan during her last year of medical school to cosmetic surgery directly due to ubamacare. ubamacare was the start of socialized medicine and the start of the downward spiral of the US healthcare system.

The scariest part for me of not having a job that provides insurance is the US healthcare system. It is the best, but the other country's systems just suck worse.

 

[Chaparral]

Capitalist medicine is great. My aunt started puking blood but had no health insurance… couldn’t afford to see dr… diagnosed with terminal cancer died early 50s…not saying you’re wrong but it goes both ways and ultimately insurance isn’t a miracle cure,..

Very sorry for your loss!

yes, not having insurance does limit ones access. Hospitals are “supposed” to allow anyone in but that is theory not fact in action.

the real issue in our system is the amount of waste and huge profit points within our insurance system. Both have their good and bad points. My folks were able to pay cash for most of our care, we were middle class, Father a professional. Chasing huge dollars for the few and living in the most expensive areas in the most expensive buildings is a lousy way to run a business that never seems to lose money on anything.

Is there a better system?

 

[cowadle]

i remember when we had single payer healthcare and it was affordable. the single payer was you or me. whenthe gov got involved is when things went bad.

 

[alank2]

Capitalism is great.
Capitalism has made us the successful country we are today. But anyone who knows history is that there are people out there that will abuse the systems if there are not safeguards in place…

healthcare is not a choice. Sooner or later you’re going to need to use it. If we don’t regulate it, then it’ll only be there when it’s convenient for the insurance companies…when you pay the premiums and don’t use it…

This. Something ran amuck between the early 80's and now. Any prescription I needed in the late 80's was $3. Medical insurance did not cost $20K per year for a family. Deductibles were not insane back then. Clearly something should have been regulated that was not regulated because politicians were bought out by big pharma and the like.

At this point I think the entire thing is a mess. I used to hate the idea of socialized medicine, but it seems that hospitals are making decisions that benefit them most anyway and doctors aren't able to do what they want and/or what is right for their patients anyway, so I'm not so solidly on the side of non-socialized medicine at this point. It seems everyone gets free medical care except the people who work hard, pay taxes, and are the backbone of this country. At some point my thought is that if many groups in society are getting it for free, maybe the people in the middle should get it for free too. At least then if would be fair.

I think ultimately one thing needs to be controlled - costs.

 

[Snattlerake]

If the government cannot even run the Veteran's Administration, what is there about that to show they can run the country as a whole healthcare system?

 

[John6185]

If passed, the bill would attempt to raise an additional $163 billion in revenue.

I wonder what the state of California would do with the additional revenue.....

 

[TerryMiller]

i remember when we had single payer healthcare and it was affordable. the single payer was you or me. whenthe gov got involved is when things went bad.

Yeppers...

...I remember being able to go to any doctor that I wanted to, paying down some money for treatment and office visit, and going on. If someone was concerned about heart disease or cancer, they could take out a "catastrophic" health insurance plan.

Then Ted Kennedy and like politicians came along and started the HMO/PPO health plans, which after a while proved to be detrimental to the populace. Thus, Ted Kennedy and like politicians decided to come up with something like Obamacare, which cost the populace even more in deductibles and premiums.

(Oh, and the Ted Kennedy I refer to is NOT the one posting on OSA.)

 

[El Pablo]

IMO, there is no way to make single payer work unless you cap doctors and nurses salaries. Quality of care goes down because no one will want to go through what dr’s and nurses do knowing it’s capped.
The Heart Hospital is physician owned. All of the docs are highly leveraged in real estate, restaurants and hotels. They will tell you that this is their fear and hence the other investments.

Well, think of all the overhead that could go away. Why would we need all the insurance people, and people on the hospital side, that deal with the insurance? Tort reform etc, would have to happen to to make malpractice insurance service sane.

 

[sherrick13]

Capitalist medicine is great. My aunt started puking blood but had no health insurance… couldn’t afford to see dr… diagnosed with terminal cancer died early 50s…not saying you’re wrong but it goes both ways and ultimately insurance isn’t a miracle cure,..

Capitalist medicine wasn't your aunt's problem.