Why true single payer is the onlyway to do affordable health care now.

[Baobab]

Last edited Wed May 4, 2016, 12:13 PM - Edit history (2)

on all the issues where Dems or Independents might vote for Trump if Hillary was the nominee, Bernie is far superior, especially single payer health care, for which Trump has merely tried to imitate the Clinton game of pretending.

Here are a bunch of reasons why Bernie's position is superior.

Only true free single payer (no insurance companies at all and no "gap" coverages) seems to be able to sail through the various trade deal related requirements by being forced to privatize and then globalize, which would likely vastly reduce the quality of coverage for everybody but the rich..

Its only in completely non-commercial service sectors - where no money is involved at all, ever, anywhere, that public services can be preseved because of the government services exemption. Its possible that those services may have needed to have been there in 1998 but it may be possible to reset that date until now.

True single payer is like Canada's not like Englands. Thats an important distinction because England is what they will hold up, but Englands SP is being destroyed by privatization very quickly, and unless the trade deals are dumped will likely become a casualty of liberalisation soon. Its been attacked because it was so successful.

Single Payer in the US would basically be automatic and pay for all medically necessary care. No insurance companies woud be allowed, which is why it must be done now before any foreign providers of any kind of direct services including staffing enter the market which has been planned for 20 years. (similar issues exist for teaching staffing services, IT is already here though)

It would mean registration at birth and all medical conditions covered for rich and poor alike, Only free is compliant with trade deals - because of a little known rule requiring all service sectors where the service has commercial competition to be privatized.

You can read (see) more about this at the link and video in my grey ext below.

Note- Switzerland has a PRIVATE INSURANCE SYSTEM not single payer.

Single payer means just that, only one payer, if there are more than one payer, i.e. insurance firms and money is charged its not single payer and CANNOT WORK in a future environment where many more people will be unemployed permanently. (this is what exponential change in technology will do within 30 years)

See this paper on the problems posed by trade policy to affordable health care.

[snot]

1. Um, no link, video, or "grey ext" are below.

[Baobab]

3. deal signed in 1994 takes most kinds of affordable health care off of the table so that US could exp

do you have signature files turned off? But anyway I added one of them to the post,

this is a paper by Nick Skala- a really good paper on the clash between the needs of the country and secret back room deals signed in the mid 90s..

the long and the short of it is that we signed a 'services' trade deal in 1994 that takes most kinds of affordable health care off of the table in order so that US companies could export our health insurance models to the rest of the world. Similar issues exist with education. they have dollar signs in their eyes.. The type of health care system effects profits for drugs too, so US drug companies dont like public health care in other countries, because they drive a hard bargain on drugs. You can see what happened hopefully.

Now we are trying to make it even worse with three new ones that are pending.. their names all start with T.
To fill in some of the blanks from what the paper above leaves out- as far as individual states- you can read more about the worst one new one in here.. look for the phrase "friends of services" in Geneva- after ten years- its almost done. It's ready for Hillary..

[iandhr]

2. On the single payer debate it's important to note...

... that every country with "single payer healthcare" has a system that is slightly different.

In Switzerland everyone buys private insurance but the prices are regulated by the government so everyone can have it.


France has combination of a public and private delivery system. Citizens pay a 200 euro fee for the government healthcare but it doesn't cover 100% of all medical costs so 80% of French citizens buy private healthcare to cover the gap.

I believe other EU countries have a similar public private combination.


The UK has the NHS.

As a supporter of the notion of healthcare as a right and someone who would prefer a single payer system it would be nice if the proponents of single payer say what type of single payer system they favor.

[Baobab]

4. Cant have single payer charge money because then you need a tiered system for those who cannot pay.

Sorry, you're confusing a commercial for profit tiered system with single payer.

Tiered systems in healthcare, education, etc, ALL run into the problem I was describing.

[Katashi_itto]

5. Or do what Hillary will do and ignore the whole thing and/or put a committee on it.

[Baobab]

6. That results in a huge number of deaths every year which will only increase as jobs go away.

Given that 2/3 of every healthcare dollar is already spent by the government there is no reasonable excuse not to fix it with single payer, not globalizing jobs as they want to. throwing doctors and nurses under the bus.

Their trying to export this system as the only possible future is based on lies.

The #1 lie is this big lie that hides the FTA causes.