No kidding. Polling as of today, with multiple candidates in the race, isn't exactly helpful. When push comes to shove, a Sanders vs. Trump contest is going to force moderate independents like me to choose between two candidates who are worse than the ones in the last election. It would be a bloodbath.
My coworkers just asked what was so funny (I did not explain).
Just one man's opinion, but I favor both Medicaid expansion and a public option. It would allow people who like their managed care insurance to keep it and create competition in the health insurance market. Also, it would make healthcare available to those who might not otherwise have access. Increased access would be good for patients, providers, and insurers alike.
Almost every expert, including left leaning ones, disagrees with you. Either Bernie is going to have to raise taxes on the middle class or borrow 25-30 trillion. Neither one is going to work in a general election. He's going to have a choice. Either be honest and say that there is going to be a tax hike on the middle class or lie and have everyone, including dems, call him out on it. It's a loss either way.
I wish I could be as poor as Bernie.
Agreed, but scalability needs to be taken into account as well. Something that works well in Denmark with ~5M people might have fairly different results in a country with 60x the population.
Never mind your hypothetical. Look at what's happening right now. There is a shortage of primary care doctors in the United States for one very simple reason, which is that specialists make multiples of what primary docs do. Now imagine removing the earning incentive for all doctors by doing something moronic like going to a single-payer system. Demand goes through the roof and supply bottoms out. It's simple economics **coughs**.
Doctors can only see so many patients a day. If you're seeing 20 patients a day, 5 days a week, would you rather see the ones whose insurance pays you $300 a visit or the ones whose insurance pays you $100 a visit?
That's true, but these numbers we are talking about would literally double our debt. It's by far bigger than any increase in american history. I don't think we could ever sell that much debt. There is no way to do this other than raise taxes for everyone.
Well - $23.5T - but what's $23.5 give or take between friends and allies, right?
I sincerely doubt that anyone who wants to practice medicine is dissuaded by the prospect of student loan debt. Can't believe I have to say this out loud but the lifetime earning potential for physicians is through the roof.
What am I, Google?
Medicare does not negotiate payment rates with healthcare providers. Medicare dictates what they will pay, which is a fraction of what commercial managed care (Blue Cross, Cigna, Aetna, etc.) pays. Healthcare providers lose money on Medicare. If all health insurance were to start paying Medicare rates, virtually every healthcare provider in the country would be forced to close its doors.
a) Only someone who doesn't know what they're talking about (that's you) would say I'm being hyperbolic.
Unlikely. It would probably operate reimbursement similar to Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP, none of which allow healthcare providers to negotiate rates.
^^^ This! When I decided to go back to (grad) school, I took as many pre-requisites as possible at a local community college. Not only did it save me thousands of dollars in tuition but my employer's tuition reimbursement program paid for most of it. I also wholeheartedly agree that we need to quit telling every child that they have to go to college to make a good life for themselves.
Can you tell in your job if the percentage of doctors accepting medicare is decreasing any? One of the talking points you hear is that a growing number of doctors aren't accepting medicare anymore because they lose money, but I wasn't sure if that was actually true or just some talking point.
