Single-payer scares me on many levels, but as I've said forever, and Hatari says, our current system is a non-functional bitches' brew of socialized and private that is delivering some of the worst facets of both approaches.
On the supply side of the equation, it's an absolute labyrinth with far too many places for profit-seeking entireties to hide and abuse people with virtually no consequence- which violates the notion of free markets right there. An example would be my buddy a couple weeks ago- was quoted $110 out of pocket for an MRI on his knee, only to be billed an additional $490 by his insurance after the fact. No recourse that won't wreck his credit, which as a businessman is pure gold to him. The are literally stealing that money from him and he'll pay it. That's just one quick illustration of how the complexity and opacity of the current clusterfuck breaks things on that side. Another is lack of competing options for procedures.
On the demand side, the equation is broken by multiple factors as well. Foremost, is that we don't let people die in the streets so to speak. That's a tremendous obstacle to a functional free market paradigm. In fact, we don't even let people bleed in the streets; bring an injury to the ER, they'll fix it, and basically socialize the cost onto everyone else. Then there's MediCare. At a certain age we fully socialize old people. So basically poor people and old people are already socialized, but badly, and the normal free market dynamic is busted by the simple fact that the service providers can't hold the line on their services. They are undercut in a sense. If car mechanics HAD to fix your car for free if it broke and you couldn't pay for it, and also once it got to a certain age, their only choice would be to charge the bejeezus out of every who COULD pay and who's car wasn't old!
I don't think I need to enumerate the perils of single-payer here, but they certainly include suppressing innovation, loss of quality due to lack of competition, and dis-incentivizing healthy living since the fixes are all "free" anyway. But it does have some advantages. One is simplicity. Another is removing the multiple layers of profit-taking in our current system, which is terribly exacerbated by how criminally abusive the insurance companies in particular have become as they exploit every angle- and just plain steal in broad daylight- to suck money out of people at an extremely vulnerable time.
I've come to the viewpoint that perhaps going full-retard in either direction- true free market or true single-payer- would be far preferable to what we have now. How to GET there, I have no idea. The obstacles in either direction appear insurmountable.
WOW, Jello makes more sense than Curdog 25-20 and our all wise Hatari is advocating socialized medicine?
I think we have entered the twilight zone? Does anyone else hear that strange music in the back ground?
Excuse me while I add another layer of tinfoil.
