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zipplewrath

(16,646 posts)
23. As you can see
Wed Mar 28, 2012, 08:26 AM
Mar 2012

You need to put a time context to your question.

Today, who knows. No one has come close to trying since Hillary basically 20 years ago. And "medicare for all" needs some definition too. It was proposed that we "allow" people to purchase medicare "at cost". i.e. no subsidies, charge them the actual cost of providing those policies. They could still have their commercial products if they preferred them. They could have even restricted those policies to either individuals, or to employers smaller than some upper limit. These kinds of offers were popular with a wide variety of the population, both GOP and democrat. The idea for many of "medicare for the other guy" is fairly acceptable if most folks don't think they'll be paying for it. One doesn't have to think very hard to see how such a start would end with something indistiguishable from single payer.

Outside of an immediate context, single payer in some form is coming. I'd say 10 - 20 years. The rate of health care costs is going up so fast that NO ONE can keep up with it. A huge reason for Obama's plan was that it controlled the costs to the GOVERNMENT. And even at that it only slowed the rate of inflation. Health care costs will soon be too expensive for huge portions of the population. The fear of course is that it will be the GOP that brings us single payer, much like they passed the Part D plan.

There is some possibility that the states will bring it to us. Vermont is trying, and some state may wise up and figure out that a great "business incentive" is single payer so that a company that builds a factory or relocates their headquarters to that state can avoid directly absorbing these costs, and instead share them with the larger population. If that starts happening, the states will do it and the feds will follow along.

Could we just "switch" to a pure single payer system now? No, I don't think so, and I don't think we should try. However, the entire point of the "public option" wasn't to "keep the insurance companies honest" it was to allow us to begin setting up the structure of a single payer system, and allow it to grow "organically" as the commercial system collapsed, and the feds had to step in. Unfortunately we didn't have the leadership to get it done.

I would peg it at 10% optimistically speaking. Selatius Mar 2012 #1
0% daleanime Mar 2012 #2
That's another thing I fear . . . HughBeaumont Mar 2012 #4
I have hope my granddaughter may one day benefit from Single Payer. . . Journeyman Mar 2012 #3
I believe Single Payer's inevitable too . . . HughBeaumont Mar 2012 #6
Obama is stuck with this disaster CAPHAVOC Mar 2012 #9
And then he had the gall to say that he believes that private for profit health insurance SammyWinstonJack Mar 2012 #19
Medicare is not even CAPHAVOC Mar 2012 #20
why don't they try, and find out? KG Mar 2012 #5
There's the operative phrase - "till they stood up and demanded them". HughBeaumont Mar 2012 #21
It's a question of how do we GET "35-40% still under the spell of Faux/CNBC" CTyankee Mar 2012 #27
Appeal to their selfishness? HughBeaumont Mar 2012 #30
Those are good arguments but we need spokespersons they believe in. Perhaps that is the key. CTyankee Mar 2012 #32
Zero. But we are trapped here with our dreams of a better life one day. mmonk Mar 2012 #7
The same odds that the 1964 Civil Rights Act had of passing Zalatix Mar 2012 #8
If we had the Internet and three 24/7 news networks back in 1964 customerserviceguy Mar 2012 #12
Faux and CNBC would defend Bull Connor. I'm convinced. HughBeaumont Mar 2012 #22
It's going to take another serious burst of progressivism customerserviceguy Mar 2012 #10
If Obamacare is shot down I think it will 10 years before we see single payer have a real shot. Ganja Ninja Mar 2012 #11
Beat me to it. I was about to say the same thing. SmileyRose Mar 2012 #14
It was not a mistake CAPHAVOC Mar 2012 #25
Medicare for all is single payer. Warren Stupidity Mar 2012 #13
0% vi5 Mar 2012 #15
If the ACA is overturned, Dems won't touch Healthcare for 50 years. JoePhilly Mar 2012 #16
In the next 20 years? Close to no chance at all. Motown_Johnny Mar 2012 #17
In this environment, slim and none Gman Mar 2012 #18
As you can see zipplewrath Mar 2012 #23
Fuck all this hand wringing libtodeath Mar 2012 #24
All of those things happened as a result of public backlash against unfairness. HughBeaumont Mar 2012 #29
So what is the plan? libtodeath Mar 2012 #33
Zero percent antytime in the near future karynnj Mar 2012 #26
I once had a discussion with my accountant (a pretty smart guy) about single payer health CTyankee Mar 2012 #28
There's a video of Obama advocating a single payer Proles Mar 2012 #31
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