Single Payer Healthcare - Help Me Out, Here...

[iamjoy]

I have waffled on this issue because I am conflcited.

I have talked to people in England and heard that the system is not perfect or idyllic. It is fairly easy to see a general practitioner, but there can be long waits for specialists. Many people there have supplemental insurance and get in to see doctors more quickly with that. I also worry that if we go to a single payer system, we will lose the customer service aspect. Have you been to the hospital lately? They are trying to make them more pleasant. Many of them have or are building private rooms with DVD players, flat screen televisions, small refrigerators. Of course we're paying for that and it's debatable whether it's really necessary. But environment (atmosphere) really has an affect on healing. Maybe we'd still have that, but I think part of the reason for it is hosptials "competing" to be the best.

Another problem with a single payer system is - well, it's a Republican line but look at how the government screws up everything else and imagine them in charge of healthcare. FEMA/Katrina comes to mind. But the fact is government agencies can work well when properly funded and run by competent people rather than political appointees. That's what I mean by problem. The Republicans would be like Scrooge when it came to funding healthcare. Currently, the quality of care you get depends on how good your health insurance is. In a Single Payer system, the quality of healthcare would depend on whether or not Democrats or Republicans were in charge.

BUT,
I was listening to an NPR story on the GM/UAW talks. It seems like having to pay for healthcare is having a negative impact on our ability to compete in a global marketplace. This is especially true of companies trying to fund retiree healthcare when people are living longer and when medical technology has provided us with marvelous but expensive treatments for previously incurable conditions. So, moving to a single payer system may well help corporations lower their labor costs and keep good jobs in the US.

So, there it is - the Good, the Bad, the Ugly