Many pundits on the right "warned" that if TrumpRyanwhatever failed, we are on our way to

[question everything]

a single payer. Bring it on!

Institute additional tax - 5% - on all income and use it to fund a universal plan. Allow private insurance to continue to operate for those who want if. And get employers our of the health insurance business. This cost the treasury, in 2013, $250 billion!

http://kff.org/private-insurance/issue-brief/tax-subsidies-for-private-health-insurance/

[radical noodle]

1. Somehow the cost of healthcare

must come down. Doctors will lobby against price controls but I don't see any other way to do it, do you?

[question everything]

4. If we take the middlemen - CEOs of insurance company

from the equation, paying the ones who actually provide the healthcare, we can lower costs.

And I am not sure how to accomplish this, but when I see ads for new drugs Humira, Opdivo and others constantly on TV (perhaps I am watching to wrong programs) I want to see how much of their high cost is to cover marketing.

[Lucinda]

5. +1

[radical noodle]

6. I'd love to see a rule against drugs advertising on TV

You aren't watching the wrong programs, those things are everywhere. I'd love to see drug ads taken off the air the same way they eliminated advertising for cigarettes. I've had doctors tell me that they have patients who come in demanding they be given some drug they have seen on TV but have no need for.

I'm not sure eliminating insurance would drive costs down enough. Part of the cost of care is also the doc's malpractice insurance which is sky high.

Just seeing a doctor today can cost hundreds of dollars, but they have to pay for their office, staff, computers and supplies. There is no easy way out of this but the main thing to do first is to get all states to adopt ACA so that more people can be covered. Then work out a good way to do single payer to perhaps be similar to what Canada has.

[question everything]

12. I remember seeing letters from physicians, before ACA, though

praising Medicare reimbursements, compared to insurance. Yes, many of the costs go to heavy paperwork which, one hopes, would be eliminated by a universal insurance.

Sadly, the cost of maintaining an office drives many "low price" physicians, like primary care ones, from the business. They cannot afford this any longer.

And there are several instances when physicians operate on a cash base only. Patients purchase "membership" - I don't remember the cost but it is reasonable - to see them for routine treatment and checkups. They can afford to offer these services by not dealing with insurance and all the headache associated. How often have we heard of a claim rejected for the "wrong" code?

[LeftInTX]

17. I've heard of that membership thing too

When I graduated from college in 1978, health care was so cheap, that I didn't use my insurance. I just paid the cash when I went to the doctor. I never filed a claim. My grandmother had a hysterectomy in 1980. It cost $700.

[democratisphere]

2. The millionaires and billionaires will flip out if they have to give up 5%.

You don't want to upset them, do you?

[brush]

3. The big advantage of getting employers out of the health care business is...

that product costs will be lowered.

American automakers for example would reap a $1500 saving on the cost of producing a vehicle if healthcare for it's workers wasn't factored into the cost of production. This is an advantage the Japanese and German automakers have over us.

Other business will also benefit from not having that expense.

We would be so much more competitive internationally there would be no need to get involved in these disadvantageous international trade deals.

It's such a no-brainer but I guess there is honor, or something, among thieves as apparently corporate personhoods who run most industries don't want to go against the other corporate personhoods who run the insurance industry.

[radical noodle]

7. What about unions?

Most unions have a "health and welfare" benefit that is insurance, generally for all the family of the union worker, and the employer pays it all (or at least most of it). It's an advantage that unions can offer to get people to join, along with their pensions. Have unions had to switch this due to the ACA? I was already retired by the time the whole bill came into effect.

[brush]

10. The companies still pay it through the union so it still is an expense...

that adds to product costs.

If there was single payer coverage the company doesn't have to pay it either through a union or not.

BTW, Germany has very storng unions.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. That is the gold standard to save costs.

Everyone pays a tax according to their means. Everyone gets medical coverage much like Medicare. No more insurance premiums. All 230 million of us are in a single pool. No CEO pay, no advertising. Government cost regulations on providers.

[colorado_ufo]

9. Just Medicare for all.

Think about it - adding younger people to the pool would automatically reduce costs. Private insurance companies could continue to offer supplemental insurance, just as they do now for Medicare recipients, which would assure that millions of employees of THOSE companies would not be out of jobs, adding to the unemployment issue. Employers would be free of the burden of offering insurance, and more people could be employed.

Enlarging the actuarial basis with younger people might well solve most of the problems with health insurance, perhaps without even adding an additional tax.

[world wide wally]

11. If only

[Buckeyeblue]

13. Single Payer will bring down costs

Because doctors won't have to spend resources on tracking down all of the different insurances.

And companies won't have to spend money on hr resources to facilitate insurance coverage.

Single Payer will boost the economy and encourage/allow people to start small businesses because the high cost of self- financed health insurance won't be a barrier.

The free market will thrive- - maybe to the chagrin of big corporations.

[GulfCoast66]

14. One of the biggest advantages of single-payer

Would be opening up all the untapped potential in America. While the wife and I really like our jobs we would like to move to a much more rural area Florida to open businesses which would help serve the population. We would make less money, but do things we really love and bring growth to an area that needs it.

But we can't give up our healthcare. We do not plan on leaving here for 5 to 8 years. Hopefully by then healthcare will not be an issue because we will have single payer.

I think our story is duplicated millions of times across America. People cannot pursue their goals and desires because they are chained down by healthcare issues.

[question everything]

15. I thought that the ACA resolved this problem

There was a young woman who worked with me, who took classes and felt that it was time to leave the corporation for new jobs in her new field. She found one with a sole proprietor who could not offer health insurance so she logged into the state new exchange and got coverage. Being young and healthy may have helped, though.. This was when the ACA just took effect.

[Warren DeMontague]

16. O NO!