I think that a government sponsored health care plan will only drive up medical and insurance costs. We really need the single payer system that UK and Canada have. It has its drawbacks but like with our Medicare system, once doctors realize that Uncle Sam is paying the bill they are going to try to squeeze out as much money as they can get. This will drive up premiums across the board. Remember doctors are smarter than you and me, that’s why they went to medical school and you didn’t. If there are angles in working the system, they are going to find them
If you are getting Uncle Sam involved for subsidized care, the industry needs to be heavily regulated with price controls. Back in 1993 when the Clintons had their proposed health care reform on the table, there was talk of price caps for health care. I remember some representative from the physicians lobby stating on television that no other industry in the United States has pricing caps and guidelines, and then why should the health care industry have them. I desperately wanted someone to say because no other industry has such a direct impact on human life. You need to have price controls to allow people to live and not be made penniless through jumbo health care bills, as many Americans are. Of course the media didn’t bother to come back with that or any other opposing statement.
The scary thing about the single payer plan is that health care can be rationed out, and that the older you get, the longer you have to wait for a medical procedure. This is where having private hospitals on top of a single payer system comes in. Even with the single payer system there will still be a health insurance industry and plenty of opportunities for doctors to make money. You will have to have insurance for when you can’t get service quickly enough from the single payer system. You will have to seek care from a private hospital when you feel it is a life or death situation and the public system is not responding quickly enough. Therefore for the people who can afford it, you will have to pay for extra insurance just in case you can’t get the care you need from a single payer system.
Although I am really for health care reform, I believe it should be done with caution and a lot of regulation. Even though the single payer plan has its drawbacks, it is a better plan than a Federal sponsored insurance program put out there to compete with private insurance. The federal insurance plan could work as well, but not without strong price controls and caps.
