Drawbacks of the Single Payor system
I would like to briefly discuss the drawbacks to a single payor system, such as an expansion of Medicare.
First, the lack of competition would mean that whatever Congress decided to pass regarding coverage and payment schedules would be law. If a doctor's office didn't like what they were getting paid...tough. Presumably they could opt out, but ask any doctor's office how much they enjoy collecting payment directly from patients and you'll see how attractive this option is. Without competition there would be no reason for Medicare to try to improve efficiencies or speed up payments to doctors and hospitals.
Another drawback is in the approval of expensive services. In other countries where the government pays for healthcare you need to schedule MRI's and other diagnostic services like that sometimes months in advance. Many Canadians cross the border to have these services done and pay for them themselves due to the waiting list back in Canada being too long.
And finally, to me one of the most important reasons is that its the government running it. I have yet to see a system or program run by the government that is actaully efficient, effective and cost what they expected. Take whatever cost projections they make for taking over the payment for all health services and AT LEAST triple it. See the Medicare Rx plan for evidence of this. Never has any government program cost what they estimated or less. Whether its the military or Human Service programs, the government is never able to stay within a projected budget. In order to cover the huge cost of this program taxes would have to be raised a very large amount. In an age where most people demand tax cuts from their politicians without thought of what programs to cut adding this behomoth to the federal government is a disaster in the making.
We all know that the current system is broken and unsustainable. But the government is not the answer. It hardly ever is.
First, the lack of competition would mean that whatever Congress decided to pass regarding coverage and payment schedules would be law. If a doctor's office didn't like what they were getting paid...tough. Presumably they could opt out, but ask any doctor's office how much they enjoy collecting payment directly from patients and you'll see how attractive this option is. Without competition there would be no reason for Medicare to try to improve efficiencies or speed up payments to doctors and hospitals.
Another drawback is in the approval of expensive services. In other countries where the government pays for healthcare you need to schedule MRI's and other diagnostic services like that sometimes months in advance. Many Canadians cross the border to have these services done and pay for them themselves due to the waiting list back in Canada being too long.
And finally, to me one of the most important reasons is that its the government running it. I have yet to see a system or program run by the government that is actaully efficient, effective and cost what they expected. Take whatever cost projections they make for taking over the payment for all health services and AT LEAST triple it. See the Medicare Rx plan for evidence of this. Never has any government program cost what they estimated or less. Whether its the military or Human Service programs, the government is never able to stay within a projected budget. In order to cover the huge cost of this program taxes would have to be raised a very large amount. In an age where most people demand tax cuts from their politicians without thought of what programs to cut adding this behomoth to the federal government is a disaster in the making.
We all know that the current system is broken and unsustainable. But the government is not the answer. It hardly ever is.
posted by Jdeer76 at
5:43 PM
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