- Other countries pay their health care providers significantly less than we do, and ration end of life care, which we don’t do at all. Also, other nations use gatekeeper access to specialists, something that the US tried in the 1980’s but was widely unpopular; in fact, however, it works extremely well in cost control. Further, most countries’ systems are not related to employment; because in the US most insurance IS tied to employment, the customer the insurers want to serve is the corporation that they contract with, not the patient. That’s a problem.
- Private insurance isn’t the problem per se. Health care costs inflated at the same rate as baseline inflation in the US until……..Medicare was created. Medicare had the net effect of taking about 40% of the total health care billings in the nation and moved them away from free market cost controls. Health care has inflated at an average of 2X baseline inflation since. So, the structure of Medicare is a part of the problem.
Ultimately, the solution that other nations have hit on is not the scheme (dual payer, single payer, premium support, whatever) but ONE system for ALL people. In the US, this would involve the creation of a system which ends (a) corporate insurance, (b) Medicare, © Medicaid, (d) CHIPS, (e) the ACA………and puts us all under a single system.
Here’s reality. If you want to live under a quality and well designed health care system, you need to emigrate. Republicans would slit their wrists before they’ll end corporate insurance, and Democrats will slit THEIR wrists before they’ll end (b) through (e).
Bottom line? A properly designed, efficient system has no support politically.
