Actually my neighbor who is 75 needs a hip replacement and they won’t do it until he loses 30 pounds. It has taken about 5 months so far but he is now scheduled for the end of April. Weight is a big deterrent to getting a surgery already and I couldn’t imagine what it would be like with Single Payer. I guess Medicare is a type of single payer which is why they put so many requirements out there.
In the late 1990s, I was listening to a Brit radio talk show, and a guy called in tell his story. He was mid-50s....about 70 pounds over his average weight and needed hip operation. The Brit system said lose the weight and they’d discuss it...otherwise, no. He said he couldn’t lose the weight without exercise, and they said they’d give him pain-killers to get through that period.
He talked to some Indian who owned a pub in the area, who had a relative in India who was in the clinic business. For several thousand pounds, the guy would handle the whole operation, rehab in a upscale hotel, and even the airline tickets. He took the money out of savings, signed up and returned home in four weeks with a new hip. I expect the US system to be the same way in five years, and most people going to Cuba for some procedure that they can’t get done in the US.