Why I now believe in one single payer health care system....
By mommyboo
@mommyboo (13174)
United States
April 8, 2012 3:29pm CST
This morning after getting embroiled in a discussion about how some people still believe it's okay to use your own personal beliefs to discriminate against your employees by not providing ins that has birth control options, I have since decided that it would be a prudent and wise idea to go with one single payer health care plan.
The fairest way to institute this would be:
EVERY employer must offer this same plan to every employee, or at least the OPTION of choosing this coverage, regardless of the views of the employer. It should cost EVERY employer exactly the same to offer this plan to every employee. EVERY employee should have the same out of pocket cost for premiums from this plan and exactly the same copay costs, if copays apply. Since the coverages are exactly the same from one employer to the other with the same plan, it won't matter if someone changes jobs, their coverage wouldn't change and you wouldn't have to worry that if you got a new job, you'd have different insurance. No preexisting conditions, period, nobody can be denied the same coverages EVERYONE has for ANY reason. If we have to have a safety net plan to cover non citizens, then continue medicaid or something but only non citizens would be covered that way.
I don't care if employers don't like it, it would be cheaper overall for everyone to offer the same exact plan and cheaper for all employees to have the same plan where nobody was uncovered and nobody was denied. Of course any copays or uncovered amounts that were above the contracted reasonable and customary would be passed on to the employee to pay for out of pocket.
Don't you think this would work? I hate seeing 'religious reasons' for why people deny other people coverage or benefits or jobs or CIVILITY even!
1 person likes this
3 responses
@honest_efforts100 (1607)
• India
23 Jul 12
The Single-payer health care system is a system where funding for medical care is done from one common insurance pool run by the government. Unlike the universal care heath system with the single-payer health care system, everyone is entitled to equal benefits. If Countries like the UK have managed to make it work so well, then it should be able to work for any country.
1 person likes this
@mommyboo (13174)
• United States
23 Jul 12
If we funneled all the money we pay in taxes into a program like this, it would pay for itself and we'd have a surplus. I hate seeing all these people who clearly don't know (because they've NEVER TRIED IT) claim 'this or that won't work because'. Because why? You don't even have the nerve or the guts to ATTEMPT it, all you do is trash those of us who offer suggestions for how to change the world.
Take for example the response from the person above you. We waste tons and tons and tons of taxpayer dollars on NOTHING of value that doesn't benefit ANY citizens. If that money were actually spent wisely, we would have a healthcare system that worked, people who could get care for reasonable costs without having to choose the worst of the diseases or injuries, people could be reasonably educated without having to take out gigantic loans, people could get jobs without having to move across the country due to no local jobs. The problem is the government and misuse of tax money which should ONLY be collected to GIVE BACK TO US.
@macdingolinger (10385)
• United States
8 Apr 12
I really do agree with your ideas, they are great ideas. However, what about not offering anyone the option of birth control. That would be just as "equal" and everyone could still have the other benefits exactly the way you described it...If the general consensus was against birth control and it was "religious" to use birth control would you feel the same way?
1 person likes this
@mommyboo (13174)
• United States
9 Apr 12
AND - if companies - or ins - doesn't want to include or offer birth control, then they better provide good access to care for all the extra kids who will be born as a result. Just like people try to push the whole 'green' issue, NOBODY is going to be willing to switch to doing something that is a hassle, more time consuming, and too expensive.
@andy77e (5156)
• United States
9 Apr 12
The one fatal flaw is that this would drastically increase costs. Those costs would be passed on to the premium payers, namely us.
Further, this would undoubtedly kill jobs.
There are a number of examples of how this would work. For example, we complain about jobs moving over seas. Yet, if we impose this huge cost on employers in the US, this would make cheaper labor from China and other markets, even more competitive.
Second, even occupations insulated from foreign labor, would still lose jobs. For example, McDonalds right now has a wavier from the Obama health care bill, because otherwise it would simply drop company health insurance completely.
Why? Because cheap burgers do not earn enough to pay for an expensive health care plan. That is not going to chance if you mandate it. Thus if you force an employer to pay for a health care plan, that selling cheap burgers can't cover... they'll simply not hire people.
Are you going to pay $20 a burger, just so McDonalds can give employees a government mandated health care plan? No you are not. McDonalds goes out of business, and now those employees not only don't have health care, they don't have a job either.
The only way to make this work, is have government pay for it. Are you ready to pay 50% in taxes like UK people do? Because that's the deal. That is the ONLY way that's going to work.
You are going to pay huge taxes for everyone, and I would argue, you'll get worse care too.
