Coming from a country where going to the doctor is no big deal American healthcare was a hell of a shock for us. We were (are) both still fairly healthy and I was lucky enough to be on my husband’s work insurance plan but co pays for every visit mean budgeting for a simple Dr visit is off putting and I wonder how many small issues could be caught early and sorted out before they became bigger and more pressing sometimes life threatening issues. Prevention should be part of healthcare, the US is the only country in the world where having a heart attack can bankrupt you. The language used in U.S. healthcare is deliberately confusing (especially for seniors - Medicare advantage should have a dis in front of it) The heartbreaking thing is that the care and innovation in treating patients is top notch but the price for that care is way too high.
Let me give you an example of single payer care. A friend was traveling to Edinburgh with her family and as they boarded the plane her sister slipped and fell hurting her leg. She made it onto the plane arrived in Scotland in immense pain and went from the plane straight into hospital - she had fractured a bone in her leg. The hospital set the bone, kept her in at least two nights and discharged her with a pair of NHS crutches. So no insurance, not a U.K resident. Her bill? About 150 pounds. We are the richest country in the world but we’re the only one who ties healthcare to employment and who doesn’t have single payer.
This was so informative. I hope we get to single payer healthcare without it taking many suffering to realize it’s needed 😕 I do also think the language used by politicians may help their messaging! Single-payer healthcare for some reason sounds like something my parents would get behind, whereas they will never like the phrase “Medicare for all”. And maybe that’s on them.
My little sister has lived in Australia for over thirty years. They have a Medicare for all type system. They have a basic care package-like Medicare-that everyone gets. You choose any extra plan after that. They pay significantly more in income taxes. They pay a fraction of what we do for medical care. They pay much less overall. They also have many other differences that create a healthier populace- 36 hour workweeks, outdoor education for children, most folks have over a month off work every year. There are many other ways of having a democracy- America has allowed our corporations to create something that is functionally very close to an oligarchy. We need to get back on track.
My Irish cousins feelings about public healthcare is that it’s great when you’re healthy but they all have private insurance because and I quote, “The public hospital will kill you.” On the plus side private insurance in Ireland is inexpensive compared to the US. My mother’s cousin and his wife were only paying $2000 ANNUALLY for mid level insurance in their late 60s. They were considering switching to a higher level plant for a $2500 a year policy as they were about to turn 70 and it offered even better coverage than they already had. So the largest benefit I could see for switching to a single payer system would be if it forced a significant deduction in the cost of private insurance.
Very interesting and a hopeful prospect that should be worked out to help all Americans . Greed and avarice will have to be curbed to make this work as there are some who don't like the thought that they will not be able to game the current system any more, but they will still look to game single payer system to their greedy benefit which of course will need to be regulated accordingly for the benefit of all.
What if everyone just collectively got together and decided to opt out of health insurance? It would collapse the system and require something new to be built in its place, right? Is this a possible thing? A nationwide boycott against insurance companies? Maybe people could also use the money they would spend on premiums and instead donate to a fund to ensure medical professionals get paid and people continue to receive care? I would love to know your thoughts!
I think that we should look at the most successful single payer systems in the free world and gain from their successes by implementing their strong points in building something for us to use in the USA and go from there. We can improve it as we go, but definitely start out with something that is initially very good to start with.
Seems the problem is not having regulations on the maximum a procedure, drugs, etc. should cost, which could make healthcare more affordable for everyone.
I do not support Government run anything. Once the government receives taxes to manage a program the cost never goes down. Also having politics involved in healthcare could lead to a cutoff of funding procedures to save money.
I wonder if government should always be blamed for inflation.
The billionaires who are currently making a killing off of our current system are not going to go done easily on a single payer system and will fight it tooth and nail unless they can find a way to make money off of it . It will be like creating a water shortage so they can control water production and sales to get fat off of everyone else. That may be why they are fighting climate change legislation right now. They want everyone to deny that global warming is real so they can benefit from reduced supply in order to generate more profits by increased demand for anything that we need to survive. Ergo, me thinks that we live under oligarch rule in America.
Tbh, I remember learning about oligrachies when I was like 10 years old during Bush's first term and I thought it sounded like we were under it then. At this point, govt and billionaires are so tightly intertwined they may as well be synonyms.
Health care in America is past approaching a crisis. This was recognized by Prof. Clayton Christenson in The Innovator's Prescription. Suggested solutions are many; yet disparity continues in what Americans can receive or afford. In some countries with single pay systems there are age caps on how long a patient may receive dialysis or treatment for cancer for example. Such limits do not exist in the USA. The solution for changing our health care system to provide better for all is not a single solution. Rather, a successful change would be implemented in different ways by the legal system, insurance companies and conglomerates of health care delivery systems. I am pessimistic about such broadscale changes because of the vested interests which protect revenues at the expense of public health. John Chipman MD
It seems to me, John, that what you are saying is that the super wealthy do not want to change anything in the health care business that would prevent them from continuing to make even more money than they are making now in the capitalistic system that currently exists in our country (i.e. a system where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer)
Coming from a country where going to the doctor is no big deal American healthcare was a hell of a shock for us. We were (are) both still fairly healthy and I was lucky enough to be on my husband’s work insurance plan but co pays for every visit mean budgeting for a simple Dr visit is off putting and I wonder how many small issues could be caught early and sorted out before they became bigger and more pressing sometimes life threatening issues. Prevention should be part of healthcare, the US is the only country in the world where having a heart attack can bankrupt you. The language used in U.S. healthcare is deliberately confusing (especially for seniors - Medicare advantage should have a dis in front of it) The heartbreaking thing is that the care and innovation in treating patients is top notch but the price for that care is way too high.
Let me give you an example of single payer care. A friend was traveling to Edinburgh with her family and as they boarded the plane her sister slipped and fell hurting her leg. She made it onto the plane arrived in Scotland in immense pain and went from the plane straight into hospital - she had fractured a bone in her leg. The hospital set the bone, kept her in at least two nights and discharged her with a pair of NHS crutches. So no insurance, not a U.K resident. Her bill? About 150 pounds. We are the richest country in the world but we’re the only one who ties healthcare to employment and who doesn’t have single payer.
This was so informative. I hope we get to single payer healthcare without it taking many suffering to realize it’s needed 😕 I do also think the language used by politicians may help their messaging! Single-payer healthcare for some reason sounds like something my parents would get behind, whereas they will never like the phrase “Medicare for all”. And maybe that’s on them.
Some will call it "Socialism"! ,or worse, " Communism"!
Calling it so doesn't make it true...
Totally agree.
My little sister has lived in Australia for over thirty years. They have a Medicare for all type system. They have a basic care package-like Medicare-that everyone gets. You choose any extra plan after that. They pay significantly more in income taxes. They pay a fraction of what we do for medical care. They pay much less overall. They also have many other differences that create a healthier populace- 36 hour workweeks, outdoor education for children, most folks have over a month off work every year. There are many other ways of having a democracy- America has allowed our corporations to create something that is functionally very close to an oligarchy. We need to get back on track.
I agree and yes , we do have oligarchs in the USA.
My Irish cousins feelings about public healthcare is that it’s great when you’re healthy but they all have private insurance because and I quote, “The public hospital will kill you.” On the plus side private insurance in Ireland is inexpensive compared to the US. My mother’s cousin and his wife were only paying $2000 ANNUALLY for mid level insurance in their late 60s. They were considering switching to a higher level plant for a $2500 a year policy as they were about to turn 70 and it offered even better coverage than they already had. So the largest benefit I could see for switching to a single payer system would be if it forced a significant deduction in the cost of private insurance.
Sold. Let’s do it!
Very interesting and a hopeful prospect that should be worked out to help all Americans . Greed and avarice will have to be curbed to make this work as there are some who don't like the thought that they will not be able to game the current system any more, but they will still look to game single payer system to their greedy benefit which of course will need to be regulated accordingly for the benefit of all.
What if everyone just collectively got together and decided to opt out of health insurance? It would collapse the system and require something new to be built in its place, right? Is this a possible thing? A nationwide boycott against insurance companies? Maybe people could also use the money they would spend on premiums and instead donate to a fund to ensure medical professionals get paid and people continue to receive care? I would love to know your thoughts!
I think that we should look at the most successful single payer systems in the free world and gain from their successes by implementing their strong points in building something for us to use in the USA and go from there. We can improve it as we go, but definitely start out with something that is initially very good to start with.
Seems the problem is not having regulations on the maximum a procedure, drugs, etc. should cost, which could make healthcare more affordable for everyone.
I do not support Government run anything. Once the government receives taxes to manage a program the cost never goes down. Also having politics involved in healthcare could lead to a cutoff of funding procedures to save money.
I wonder if government should always be blamed for inflation.
The billionaires who are currently making a killing off of our current system are not going to go done easily on a single payer system and will fight it tooth and nail unless they can find a way to make money off of it . It will be like creating a water shortage so they can control water production and sales to get fat off of everyone else. That may be why they are fighting climate change legislation right now. They want everyone to deny that global warming is real so they can benefit from reduced supply in order to generate more profits by increased demand for anything that we need to survive. Ergo, me thinks that we live under oligarch rule in America.
What do you think?
Tbh, I remember learning about oligrachies when I was like 10 years old during Bush's first term and I thought it sounded like we were under it then. At this point, govt and billionaires are so tightly intertwined they may as well be synonyms.
Kryslyn, I inadvertently unsubscribed to you Substack, thinking it was something else . My bad. Please continue to reach out to me if you wish .
Great article, Rebecca. Hopefully we are headed for single-payer health care system.
Health care in America is past approaching a crisis. This was recognized by Prof. Clayton Christenson in The Innovator's Prescription. Suggested solutions are many; yet disparity continues in what Americans can receive or afford. In some countries with single pay systems there are age caps on how long a patient may receive dialysis or treatment for cancer for example. Such limits do not exist in the USA. The solution for changing our health care system to provide better for all is not a single solution. Rather, a successful change would be implemented in different ways by the legal system, insurance companies and conglomerates of health care delivery systems. I am pessimistic about such broadscale changes because of the vested interests which protect revenues at the expense of public health. John Chipman MD
It seems to me, John, that what you are saying is that the super wealthy do not want to change anything in the health care business that would prevent them from continuing to make even more money than they are making now in the capitalistic system that currently exists in our country (i.e. a system where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer)