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In reply to the discussion: Dem lawmakers call for single-payer healthcare [View all]ehrnst
(32,640 posts)You created that implication.
You are implying that the only people who would be affected negatively in completely rebuilding how health care is paid for will be "a lot of rich people," because of a misreading of two statements.
There will be far more "disrupted" than "rich people's incomes."
Perhaps you skipped this:
"And its not just the private insurance industry (which would effectively be put out of business) that could feel the impact to the bottom line. Parts of the health care industry that lawmakers want to help, like rural hospitals, could inadvertently get hurt, too. Many rural hospitals get paid so little by Medicare that they only survive on higher private insurance payments. Yet under single-payer, those payments would go away and some could not make it financially. You would not want to wipe out a third of the hospitals in Minnesota by accident, Pollack said. And you could, if payments to hospitals end up too low."
And this:
"Both Starr and Pollack, however, said it would be possible to make a switch, although it would have to be carried out over a very long period of time.
You could imagine some kind of long transition, where you gradually expanded Medicare, said Starr, for example moving it down to age 55 and then in later years continue to lower the age threshold."
HRC's plan was to allow people to buy into Medicare at 55, then expand children's coverage. This allows a gradual conversion of payment mechanisms, and a gradual expansion of the infrastructure needed in the Federal Government.
Even Bernie Sanders acknowledged in the debates that single-payer health care is not politically feasible in the foreseeable future and has said that it is unlikely without, among other things, campaign finance reform first.
Canada didn't go to a federal single payer system until all the provinces had done so independently, which took over 20 years. With Vermont single payer failing, and Coloradocare being defeated last November, we aren't going to do it the way Canada did.
Changing anything that is such a huge portion of the GDP is going to take time and money - as with any major project, "Cheap, fast or good - pick two."