Medical debt in the United States is another one of those defining monuments to inequality we have erected in the past decade another being the student debt crisis.
On first glance it seems like only the well-off would go to college. I won’t respond further unless I’m sure I understand your proposal
Sounds ridiculous right?
So the make the price $30.000 and give discounts if your parents don't make $100.000 instead.
Education loans just bring more money into the system and inflate tuition, just like how 0% down mortgages inflate real estate prices
Single-payer does not mean abolishing private insurance.
Take the UK’s NHS for example - there’s a thriving private healthcare insurance and private healthcare provider industry there.
Trump’s bill is about price transparency - while the bill is not a bad thing it won’t solve the problem of inflated prices to counter insurance lowballing - I believe the end-result will be something like the “room rate” signs you see in hotel rooms in many states that show the maximum legally allowed billable rate for the room which is usually very high compared to the rate you’re actually paying.
As for the cost argument - people will NET save money because the tax increases to pay for universal coverage will be less than most people’s current healthcare expenses (assuming employers will pass on the savings from not having to pay for workplace health insurance as salary/wage rises for everyone).
I don't think anyone is opposed to letting people buy private insurance on top of the obligatory single payer. Does any country actually ban additional private insurance?
“ In fact, the bill would outright ban private insurance that provides similar coverage to the new Medicare for All plans after a short transition period. That means everyone with comprehensive employee benefits or a private plan through the Affordable Care Act today would be moved onto Medicare.
[. . .] Sanders has said he envisions these remaining plans covering a handful of items like cosmetic surgery that are left out of Medicare. For everything else, the only option is Medicare.”
Since private insurance is willing to pay far higher rates than Medicare, this would lead to Medicare-for-all failing. Doctors already exist who refuse to accept Medicaid-insured patients because the reimbursement rates are low compared to privately-insured patients.
Everything I can read about this plan says it would ban plans “on top of” Medicare, and contrasts it with other countries like the UK, Canada, and Denmark, which do have supplemental private coverage for medically necessary services available.
As a physician, you have to pick either the public or private system. You can’t practice in both.
I wonder how travel health insurance works for tourists there.