What is universal health care?

The universal health care plan in Massachusetts costs $1.35 BILLION to cover 342 THOUSAND. Using the Massachusetts plan across the country would cost $1.2 TRILLION dollars each year if the government became the sole provider of health care for the more than 304,000,000 American citizens. And God knows how much more if we cover illegals.

But that assumes the Federal government could manage the program as well as Massachusetts. If the Feds manage healthcare like they have managed the Cash for Clunkers program, imagine the consequences. When you consider that Medicaid provides care to 50 MILLION at a cost of $204 BILLION this year, then you can see that the Republicans, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck have some basis for their concern!

There's never an economy of scale with a government project. There's never a tipping point where costs improve. Costs always spiral out of control, there's invariably limited oversight, and when the government runs the project there's always political reasons to cover up the problems, hide the overruns and misstate the facts.

Sure, this economist knows how to do political calculus. But let's be honest: wouldn't having people who read bills before they voted on them serve us much better?

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[ExtractCarrot]

USA has one of the worst health care systems in the world. I would actually be quite embarrassed if I was an American just for that.

[EconMilitia]

Worst is an interesting term. There's little objective, verifiable data to support a best or worst status. The WHO data, skewed to say the least, is a decade old.

Having used the American health care system, I feel no reason to be embarrassed. Add to that the overwhelming majority of medical and medical technology innovations come from America, and I'd be embarrassed to be from anywhere else.

Well, I would if I were parochial and nationalistic. As it is, I'm happy we share our successes.

[DRDFOX]

@WorldTravelDude To correct yo In the British Model they are not all govt employees. Familly Doctors known as GPs are ALL independent practices who contract sewrvices both to the NHS and private medicine (to differing proportions) I have seen my ENT specialist as a private patient and once while he was doing a once a week at an NHS hospital. Hospital Doctors are generally part of the NHS but seniour medical people such as surgeons may also do private work (or become completely private).

[WorldTravelDude]

If you think that massive bureaucracy of billing staffs at hospitals and clinics as well those "claims officers" at private insurance industry is not a massive waste of money...well good luck trimming the cost of health care at personal level or at governmental level.

Thank god our system does not have to carry that kind of massive beuracratic burden at personal or at governmental level.

[EconMilitia]

What you describe isn't waste, as you describe it.  It is disconnected data which you use to make a point.

Which is exactly the kind of thinking we oppose.

[EconMilitia]

Thanks for your comment. When you say "first of all", we'd like to point out the video says it is "usually" a single payer system.

We're happy you agree with us.

In all cases, universal means the government funds some subset of services -- either by owning the facilities and paying the staff, or by becoming an insurer. This second choice is the American Medicaid system today.

[WorldTravelDude]

Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston alone has more billing staff at its billing dept than the combined total billing staffs at all of 113 hospitals in the Province of Ontario (pop. 14 million).

That is a small pic of massive waste in US health care system

[WorldTravelDude]

First of all, Universal Health Care does not necessary mean Single Payer System.

Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, Holland etc are classic examples of Universal Health Care without Single Payer System.

There are 2 different types of Single Payer System. British (NHS) model and Canadian model. In Canadian model the health practitioners (docs, nurses, medical technicians etc) are not employees of the govt nor does the govt own hospitals or clinics but in British (NHS) model they are.

[EconMilitia]

To be fair, the last WHO report was done in 2000. It appears they don't provide this ranking any more.

The trouble with rankings is objectivity, and the ease with which we draw conclusions like "the system has failed."

When I did the search you recommended, I also found a link to CATO's 2008 analysis of the WHO report. I find the WHO a valuable, highly compassionate organization. That doesn't mean they produce good data, though.

What do you think of CATO's analysis?