Give me the best argument for single payer health care, rather than regulation

[JanMichael]

of existing private insurance companies.

(I am not in favor of private insurance companies, btw, I am writing something and want to see if there are any points I missed)

[librechik]

1. We already have it and love it--it's called Medicare

the most efficient administration in the medical field (3% of costs go to administration as opposed to 20-30% for private insurors.

[JVS]

2. Regulation opens up an eternal struggle between those who would keep insurers honest...

and the insurance companies' lobbyists for control of the regulatory agencies.

[Oregone]

3. *Everyone* covered for *every* necessary treatment, with no risk of going bankrupt

A healthy society makes for a good consumer base and strong working class. Regulating won't do this (according to the reform). There will be tiered health care and still bankruptcies, and hence, an unhealthy consumer base.


Secondly, aside from administrative overhead in similar systems being low (1.3% in Canada), health care providers have 10% taken off their bottom line by outsourcing (or having a specialists) bill 400 different insurance companies at different rates. Single payer requires no specialized staff or outsourcing to bill, and therefore, saves massive amounts for the practicioners (instantly causing savings). Regulation still leaves 400 people to bill from and an extra 10% in costs right there.

[Fozzledick]

4. Universal single-payer health care would cost 2/3 of what we're paying now

for incomplete coverage plus the added overhead of private for-profit insurance.

[stuball111]

5. Cost for one.

Way cheaper, also more efficient, you only have one billing system instead or hunderds, But most of all, it is UNIVERSAL, which means everybody gets the same care, and everybody is fully covered. If everybody pays the same, and gets the same, and the profit margin is removed, then every dollar going in goes directly to care, there is no shareholders skimming profit to finance yachts and Florida mansions. It will always have funds because not everybody gets sick at the same time, AND there is no denial of care due to pre-existing conditions, nor is there any denial of claims whatsoever. You are sick, and you get coverage, end of story. It's so damn simple.

[Sebastian Doyle]

30. Best one paragraph summary I've seen

Welcome to DU :hi:

[stuball111]

33. Thank you

:bounce: I am from Canada originally, and know a lot about it. It is so damn simple that people can't grasp it somehow. Like Tommy Douglas once put it. Who cares what is is, what politics created it, or who runs it, it's Cheap,(er than private) effective, Universal, and it works.

[LWolf]

6. I doubt very much

if you've missed any of the arguments I can muster, lol.

1. Health Care is a right.
2. The cost of health care is driving people into bankruptcy, and creates an obstacle to getting needed care.
3. Thousands of people in the U.S. die every year due to lack of health care.
4. Universal, single-payer, not-for-profit health care is the best single economic stimulus I can think of.

[stuball111]

8. Amen

take the profit out, and you have a whole bunch more dollars to play with

[nashville_brook]

7. Put an end to medical rationing.

[nashville_brook]

9. No one should have to choose between bankruptcy and an ER visit.

[Demoiselle]

10. Simple makes better.

Single payer= one kind of records kept for everybody...easier for providers.
Single payer=one insurer, one payer of all the bills with enormous bargaining power where costs are concerned.
Single payer= no profit motive.

[slipslidingaway]

11. We all fight together for the best system instead of fighting in small

groups...the poor, the elderly, the veterans, Native Americans etc.

As it stands now, and will with the public option plan, the groups are fragmented and each have to try and position themselves for health care subsidies and possibly access to doctors...the coming crisis in primary care.

Strength in numbers instead of divide and conquer.


Example...I do not want to fight this in 5-10-15 years.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8530179&mesg_id=8530179

Massachusetts Takes a Step Back From Health Care for All
By ABBY GOODNOUGH
New York Times
July 14, 2009

"BOSTON — The new state budget in Massachusetts eliminates health care coverage for some 30,000 legal immigrants to help close a growing deficit, reversing progress toward universal coverage just as Congress looks to the state as a model for overhauling the nation’s health care system.

Critics of the cut, which would save an estimated $130 million, say it unfairly targets taxpaying residents and threatens the state’s health care experiment at a critical time. “It either sends the message that health care reform cannot be done, period,” said Eva Millona, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, “or it opens the door to doing it halfway and excluding immigrants from the process.”

Gov. Deval Patrick has proposed restoring $70 million to the program, which would partly restore the immigrants’ coverage. But legislative leaders have balked, saying vital programs for other groups would have to be cut as a result. The cut, which would affect only nondisabled adults from 18 to 65 years old, would take effect in August unless the legislature approves Mr. Patrick’s proposal..."

[sandnsea]

12. Remove cost from business,

so our business can compete globally. Yes it will add cost to the budget, but it's the only way health care costs can be controlled so it remains competitive to manufacture here.

[gratuitous]

13. Efficiencies of scale

When 300 million people are looking at health care programs, the market gets a lot more responsive than when 30 people are trying to sort through the various and contradictory claims of the insurance companies. How did getting sick become a profit center in the first place?

[bobbolink]

14. Narrowing it down to one is self-defeating.

Dennis Kucinich has written much about this, and tends to be more eloquent and to the point than most of us.

I would suggest him as a resource.

Thank you for writing, whatever it is. :thumbsup:

[Texasgal]

15. Peoples lives should not be sold

to the highest bidder!

This is why it is illegal to sell your organs for example.

[PDJane]

16. Single payer does not

cut people off for a chronic illness, doesn't limit care, and doesn't mean that anyone is uninsurable. Moreover, single-payer would limit the cost of malpractice suits, because you don't have to cover health care until death; universal health care avoids that whole problem.

[slipslidingaway]

19. "single-payer would limit the cost of malpractice suits" !!! n/t

[PDJane]

20. Current malpractice suits

produce such incredibly high awards because after such an award, pre-existing conditions simply mean that one cannot receive health insurance.......ever. The award has to cover doctor's costs for the rest of one's life.

That means that the awards are out of sight. They have to be.

[slipslidingaway]

25. Exactly...and then doctors order more tests in case they are sued. n/t

[POAS]

17. Reduced cost to the providers

since it would eliminate paperwork required to deal with multiple payers who all have different rules and forms.

[slipslidingaway]

18. kick - thread is being unrecommended n/t

[Jersey Ginny]

21. It will bolster American innovation and creativity

Many Americans are stuck in jobs that they would leave if they wouldn't lose their healthcare. Single payor would allow Americans to take business risks without worrying about risking their own health or the health of their families.

[chill_wind]

22. K & R. n/t

[mmonk]

23. We won't have to worry about the current problems we have

and we can hold the government accountable where as long as the insurance companies control healthcare access, we can hold no one accountable successfully and they control the rules and costs.

[Laelth]

24. For-profit health care is immoral, inefficient, and unhealthy. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[crickets]

26. ^This. K&R -nt

[Senator]

27. Because healthcare is not a commodity. And single payer is "free."

First, exactly like national defense, healthcare is not really a commodity. We all need it in exactly the same amount and quality (i.e., as much as we need when you need it). It doesn't make "insurance model" sense anymore than negotiating while bleeding does.

And converting to single payer would "pay for itself." Everyone would get care for less overall cost than we have now.

--

[abumbyanyothername]

28. Single payer the goal is quality healthcare,

insurance the goal is maximum profit.

[EFerrari]

29. Keeping jobs in America. n/t

[WI_DEM]

31. simplicity! just think of it as Medicare from cradle to grave.

[harmonicon]

32. two main reasons that have already been covered:

1. Healthcare is a basic human right
2. Every first world country (no, the US is not a first world country) provides universal healthcare; if the US wants to join this community, we better get on board.

[Festivito]

34. Covers everyone for everything and by golly it costs lots less.

Reduces lawsuits that have ongoing health coverage as a major damage portion of the suit.

Malpractice gets reduced to just when doctors are really really provably stupid. The health situation is already covered and no one hurt had to wait for the subsequent health help.

Further, it doesn't pay the person or the lawyer to enter into phony malpractice suits.

It makes letting researches know your health problems to not be a problem or become a problem of getting insurance later.

It makes researching and statistics gathering easier and even more healthful.

Reduces auto insurance costs since accidents they cover will only have to include the car and not the person.

Reduces the amount needed in a retirement plan for health insurances.

Can put our auto companies back on a competitive track against foreign auto companies.

And reminding, it costs a third of what we're paying. That's lots less.

[Wednesdays]

35. K&R

:kick:

[Gwendolyn]

36. Freedom.

The huge benefits have already been listed, but these are some smaller items which are just as important in the quoditian...

1. Less reliance on marriage to obtain benefits. More equality between the sexes. Also, more impetus for people to get out of abusive relationships, not be in them in the first place.

2. Less willingness to slave for a corp when you can rely on the fact that you've paid into something, and it hasn't lined the pockets of people who care nothing about you. This in turn, inspires people to fight for better wages, better hours, allows for more humanity in the workplace. Not all that much more, but still, something.

3. Paves the way for other progressive ideals, such as decent maternity leave.

4. More community among citizens. See no. 2

[JanMichael]

37. I love the current +6!

With all of the positive replies I see the negative numb-nuts that hate the less fortunate have been out numbered!