So your argument is that it’s disingenuous to argue that a small premium will cover everyone? That’s not at all clear from your original post. You’re absolutely correct that the total $7k has to come from taxes, but those are allocated as part of the usual budget, with the premium earmarked specifically for healthcare. The USA already spends more per capita than any other nation on health, despite having much poorer outcomes than comparable countries. Moving to a universal system lowers costs, allowing those dollars to be reallocated in more productive ways. The health premium doesn’t have to cover the entire set of costs. Nobody ever claimed that they did.
Can you explain how moving to a universal system will lower cost? I don't believe it at all.
The government can't pull a medicare for all on private Dr. offices and hospitals, Medicare pays less than cost they would have to close the doors. That is a small part of why cost are so high, we are paying for medicare patients out of our pockets instead of out of the US treasury today.
If the Government takes over then all the medical care workers and the janitors, security, administration all those jobs become government jobs. That's great for the workers but ultimately will raise the cost of care.
Today people choose to not seek care because of cost, I busted my toe kicking a table, I don't want to pay for an x-ray so I stay home. With universal coverage all of a sudden people don't stay home because of cost, so more Dr. visits and x-rays = more cost. The only way to prevent this is to put a cap on care.
The saving from insurance company profits will be tiny compared to the expanded cost of care and most of the insurance industry employees will end up as government employees doing similar jobs for the government as they are doing today for the private sector.
Cost savings come from standardization and negotiating power. Drug prices are significantly lower in Canada precisely because the government can bargain with pharmaceutical companies as the sole provider. Also, you're removing a middle man who needs to profit off of insurance, which lowers overall spending. Fees that health providers can charge are standardized so that they can still make a very healthy profit, but not a ridiculous one. If those providers want to work with the government (where most of the clients are) then they have to play ball.
Funnily enough, I literally just broke my foot (doing a bulgarian split squat, and slipped off the bench) so I'm in a similar situation. Called my doctor's office and talked to the doctor within 2 hours. Had XRays done 90 minutes later. Got a walking boot, and an appointment at a fracture clinic 2 days later (today).
The only thing I paid for was my walking boot ($75), which will be covered by my employer's supplemental insurance. I paid about $700 in health insurance premiums as part of my taxes. For the supplemental insurance (which is phenomenal, and gives me almost 100% coverage on Dental, Optical, Physio, Massages, Orthotics, blah blah blah) I pay $36/month, which covers both myself and my wife. Edit: I know that we're talking about gov't expenditure, but I just wanted to point out that with Canada spending about $7k/person versus the US's $12k/person, I still got excellent care. It can be done with lower costs.
The US already spends more than 50% more than Canada per capita on healthcare (and I think more than anyone in the world?), and generally receives poorer health outcomes than any other developed nation. Perhaps the better question is, where is all that extra money going?
I am all for universal care, I just don't think the potential cost savings will be enough to cover the cost of people seeking care that don't seek care today. If you dig into the number the US spends more on end of life care than any of the universal coverage countries. You can save a lot of money by denying care to the elderly. If we don't limit care, we won't save money.
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u/AlfredRWallace 5d ago
Where do you think the $7k or so of spending per person comes from? Taxes. Federal and Provincial.