General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIt is really that simple...
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Prescription drug costs negotiated by largest purchaser, government
Premiums based on income, paid to government like Medicare
BigmanPigman
(51,368 posts)They can't fool as many Americans and rake in money from lobbyists if we comprehend too much.
Caliman73
(11,666 posts)As I said in the title of my response, I agree with and support single payer systems. The concept is simple, I think that the implementation is a little more complicated though.
That said:
Taxes and payments are incentives. What do you think the consequences, both intended and unintended might be in structuring the system in this way?
What would be "affordable"? What would the tax structure be?
What defines a "business"? Can a person be an individual and a business and be taxed twice?
Would reimbursement rates be standard, or would they be based in cost of living in the area?
These are some of the questions on the surface that pop out at me. I know that we have a model in Medicare and the VA, but we are talking about serving 320 million people as opposed to 57 million.
ProfessorPlum
(11,251 posts)they all have different version of single payer. We could adopt any of them, or a blend of all of them, and be way better off than we are now.
pbmus
(12,414 posts)If you structure payments fairly (based on income) which should have been done in the beginning of Medicare with negotiated prescription drug costs instead of the hodgepodge very unfair way we have now, then reimbursements will be a combination of standard and cost of living adjustments with stipends paid to rural doctors and hospitals and nursing.
Income is based on total income, not individual or business, taxed once.
As you said, The models are there...we can improve on what we have.
uponit7771
(90,193 posts)... send them to HCI monsters.
Leith
(7,802 posts)even rethugs can understand it. Their only question is where are the millions to pay insurance company CEOs?