“if people didn’t think they needed insurance and government run healthcare to deal with a cold, the system wouldn’t be so hopeless. I have talked to people in the ER because their kid had a runny nose”
OMG... I cannot imagine the strain on the system if single payer is adopted. ER’s and Urgent care will be absolutely flooded for the slightest reasons. There would have to be a filter but special interests groups would scream bloody discrimination!
BUT, what if... tort law was ushered in to protect the governmental auspices from a flood of malpractice litigation? Alas, I joke...
AND, why can’t we remove the veil by calling single payer what it really is? Socialized medicine.
1) a filter on who gets medical care.
2) cost controls - meaning limits on doctor salaries and medical equipment.
If you are very old, you don't get medical care. Fewer doctors mean longer wait times. Lower salaries mean far fewer people are willing to undertake the long, expensive process to become a doctor. Less equipment means longer wait times for things like an MRI.
Socialized medicine basically means making do with far less healthcare in the interest of reducing cost. It also means far less quality of care. Here, cancer centers compete for business based on reputation.
Some of the biggest issues we have are caused by regulation (the FDA and lack of a nationwide insurance market). Obamacare made that worse by requiring more coverage for things most people are interested in, like sex change operations. The purpose of Obamacare was to make things worse.