For my 10,000th post, I wanted it to be meaningful and something that may concern us all. So here are "MY" main concerns about Obamacare and its "ulitmate solution" - Single Payer.
Now I've already given some of the facts about what "should" happen when any govt run program takes over a part of the private sector like my analogy of the "car wash" (for those who may have read that post earlier on). And single payer is the ulitmate car wash example of how prices always go up if there isn't competition in the system and basic business principles applied - like the way our govt is run.
Now I'm assuming that Single Payer (for all) will be pretty much what medicare is today for seniors. There will obviously be some differences, but the similarities between the two should be fairly close to each other from what I understand. And I'm also going to include some things/costs about medicaid since the federal govt funds almost 60% of that program.
So here are a few facts (from wikipedia no less) that tell us something about what might occur under SP HC using medicare and medicaid as examples. I will have to restate some of the facts I already posted about costs - so bare with me.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Budget for Medicare (1966-67) = appr $3,000,000,000
(2010) Budget for Medicare = appr $525,000,000,000
Fact: The original budget for Medicare was 1/175th its size today (non adjusted) or 175 times its original cost
in those 43 years.
Medicare currently covers less than 14% (senior americans over 65) and those qualified "disabled" are a small amount beyond that.
Those who are not seniors make up the rest - appr 85% of the population
The budget for both medicare and medicaid was projected to be over $750,000,000,000 in 2011.
The cost of medicare alone is projected to be nearly 1 trillion dollars (about $932,000,000,000) by 2020-21 because of the baby boom retirees.
Medicaid curently "assists" 60% of the costs for all unwed mothers and 37% of all those childbirths.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So those seem to be the facts of the federal govt run system of entitled medicare. The key to all the stats IMO is that we will be covering perhaps 20,000,000 americans (medicare) and the projected costs will be almost 1 trillion dollars by 2020. But that leaves 80% of the population leftover. Now we all know that the older population is much "sicker" than the younguns, but the young need healthcare as well. My question is this. Will Single Payer be more of the same confusing system we now have (Obamacare)? Will it be worse? More expensive than what we now have? Will it lead to "rationing" (of medicine, doctors and supplies), "delay of services" (which is the solution in Europe and Canada) and "triage" (and ultimately) death panels because of costs?
But an even more profound question is this. Should the govt even be involved in our HC at all? Will our lives and our society be better off with MORE govt controlling more of our lives and will our kids be better off for it in the end when the bills are due? Do we want the federal govt deciding "whether" we are born, when and whether we can see a doctor/hospital and when we should be terminated?
So IMO thats the ultimate set of questions that will confront us in the future when and if Obamacare fails and single payer is instated. What kind of world we want our kids to live in - thats what we have to ask ourselves IMO.
Hope this wasn't too long.
This post was edited on 1/16 4:31 PM by rabidTU
Now I've already given some of the facts about what "should" happen when any govt run program takes over a part of the private sector like my analogy of the "car wash" (for those who may have read that post earlier on). And single payer is the ulitmate car wash example of how prices always go up if there isn't competition in the system and basic business principles applied - like the way our govt is run.
Now I'm assuming that Single Payer (for all) will be pretty much what medicare is today for seniors. There will obviously be some differences, but the similarities between the two should be fairly close to each other from what I understand. And I'm also going to include some things/costs about medicaid since the federal govt funds almost 60% of that program.
So here are a few facts (from wikipedia no less) that tell us something about what might occur under SP HC using medicare and medicaid as examples. I will have to restate some of the facts I already posted about costs - so bare with me.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Budget for Medicare (1966-67) = appr $3,000,000,000
(2010) Budget for Medicare = appr $525,000,000,000
Fact: The original budget for Medicare was 1/175th its size today (non adjusted) or 175 times its original cost
in those 43 years.
Medicare currently covers less than 14% (senior americans over 65) and those qualified "disabled" are a small amount beyond that.
Those who are not seniors make up the rest - appr 85% of the population
The budget for both medicare and medicaid was projected to be over $750,000,000,000 in 2011.
The cost of medicare alone is projected to be nearly 1 trillion dollars (about $932,000,000,000) by 2020-21 because of the baby boom retirees.
Medicaid curently "assists" 60% of the costs for all unwed mothers and 37% of all those childbirths.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So those seem to be the facts of the federal govt run system of entitled medicare. The key to all the stats IMO is that we will be covering perhaps 20,000,000 americans (medicare) and the projected costs will be almost 1 trillion dollars by 2020. But that leaves 80% of the population leftover. Now we all know that the older population is much "sicker" than the younguns, but the young need healthcare as well. My question is this. Will Single Payer be more of the same confusing system we now have (Obamacare)? Will it be worse? More expensive than what we now have? Will it lead to "rationing" (of medicine, doctors and supplies), "delay of services" (which is the solution in Europe and Canada) and "triage" (and ultimately) death panels because of costs?
But an even more profound question is this. Should the govt even be involved in our HC at all? Will our lives and our society be better off with MORE govt controlling more of our lives and will our kids be better off for it in the end when the bills are due? Do we want the federal govt deciding "whether" we are born, when and whether we can see a doctor/hospital and when we should be terminated?
So IMO thats the ultimate set of questions that will confront us in the future when and if Obamacare fails and single payer is instated. What kind of world we want our kids to live in - thats what we have to ask ourselves IMO.
Hope this wasn't too long.
This post was edited on 1/16 4:31 PM by rabidTU
