> This is why we need single-payer. You need an actor without a profit motive, and government is it.
That's a really common talking point for single-payer healthcare, but it unfortunately it doesn't hold up under scrutiny. Government-run agencies have the exact same incentives for profit as private companies do, even if they don't use the terms "profit", "margin", and "P/E ratio".
Ironically, the closest thing we have to single-payer healthcare model is Medicare[0], which absolutely does have all the problems associated with a profit motive. In many ways, it's worse, because Medicare is able to set prices across the board by fiat, is not required to negotiate with providers, and is essentially mandatory for providers (so providers just have to swallow whatever reimbursement rates Medicare offers). As a result, providers make an operating loss on Medicare patients[1], to the tune of 7% nationwide.
Think about it from Medicare's perspective. You have to balance your books at the end of the year. Do you either (1) ask Congress to raise taxes to increase your budget and hope they act quickly, or (2) lower the price you decide to pay for services, knowing that it will have zero impact on whether or not providers will still perform services for you? Unsurprisingly, they choose (2).
Also, ironically, most patients who are happy with their Medicare plans[2] are actually using privately managed Medicare plans anyway. So they're essentially opting into profit-driven insurance anyway, with the only difference being that their premiums are being "subsidized" by their past tax withholdings.
[0] There's also the VA, but single-payer advocates usually balk at that comparison since the VA actually operates the medical practice itself, unlike the single-payer models typically proposed.
[1] This means that they make a loss even before accounting for any overhead, such as salaries, or markup.
[2] And at the rate that MA is increasing, pretty soon the majority of all Medicare patients altogether.