General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: But if we enact single payer, your taxes will go up! [View all]kristopher
(29,798 posts)It only represents a small slice of the pie and even though it can negotiate some, it is (by law in many instances) a price taker.
ETA: Medicare is not "Single Payer"
What is Single Payer?
Single-payer national health insurance, also known as Medicare for all, is a system in which a single public or quasi-public agency organizes health care financing, but the delivery of care remains largely in private hands. Under a single-payer system, all residents of the U.S. would be covered for all medically necessary services, including doctor, hospital, preventive, long-term care, mental health, reproductive health care, dental, vision, prescription drug and medical supply costs.
The program would be funded by the savings obtained from replacing todays inefficient, profit-oriented, multiple insurance payers with a single streamlined, nonprofit, public payer, and by modest new taxes based on ability to pay. Premiums would disappear; 95 percent of all households would save money. Patients would no longer face financial barriers to care such as co-pays and deductibles, and would regain free choice of doctor and hospital. Doctors would regain autonomy over patient care.
The Expanded and Improved Medicare for All Act, H.R. 676, based on PNHPs JAMA-published Physicians Proposal, would establish an American single-payer health insurance system.
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/what-is-single-payer