Even Joe Scarborough gets it...our biggest long term problems are Medicare and Medicaid.

[dkf]

To me that screams "SINGLE PAYER!!!!!!"

When will our leaders finally come to reality?

[Kaleva]

1. Single payer may be the only solution.

[leftstreet]

2. Wait....then wouldn't "SINGLE PAYER!!!!!" become a problem too?

:popcorn:

[handmade34]

5. monies would be

funneled into "single payer" instead of for-profit insurance companies... different dog

[leftstreet]

8. That's how Medicare/SS work now. So, what's the 'problem?'

Medicare and SS are nonprofit

:shrug:

[handmade34]

12. no problem

"Single Payer is the solution to the problem of corporate profiteering"

[JDPriestly]

13. Social Security has nothing to do with Medicare. They are not even

funded in quite the same way.

Working people should pay into the same medical care fund that covers Medicare. There should just be one kind of insurance. Working people pay in while they are young and their premiums cover everyone in the system young or old. A lot of the current bureaucracy will no longer be needed. For example, doctors and hospitals will simply forward all their bills on identical forms to one payor, the government. That eliminates a lot of problems for the accounting departments of hospitals and doctors -- and some costs.

Permitted costs will be the same for all patients with similar treatments. Doctors will know what will be covered by the insurance and what will not. It won't differ from patient to patient according to the patient's individual medical plan.

So, single payer saves a lot of costs.

The uniformity would only change if a patient had supplemental insurance that covered more than the single payer insurance permitted.

And all the insurance company personnel that works on disallowing coverage for medical treatments or patients would be employed in slightly different capacities than they are now.

[leftstreet]

oh, lol I meant to say "Medicare/Medicaid"

Yeah, you're right.

[eridani]

15. Nothing wrong with Social Security. Most civilized countries have taxes of

8% of income for medical care for all. 1.65% (Medicare tax rate) just sin't going to do the trick.

[dkf]

7. It would have to contain salaries and costs and even ration end of life care.

But it's the only solution I can see.

[leftstreet]

9. Single Payer is the solution to the problem of corporate profiteering

on healthcare

[HuckleB]

14. Popcorn is great!

How about this: We decide to spend ten percent of our GDP on health care, which would still be more than most countries, and institute those funds to a single payer plan. Heck let's put the number at 12 percent, or even 15 percent, and we're still saving money as a nation!

[msongs]

3. our biggest long term problem is out of control military industiral complex spending nt

[RandomThoughts]

4. That would requier having to challenge what they always thought correct.

And having to face ego and guilt.

Ego and guilt can be a tough impediment to learning.
Why concepts of errors of pride and forgiveness is part of so many teachings.


If someone has been standing in a mud puddle their entire life and you ask them to take a step, it is far easier for someone to defend being in the mud puddle, in many cases. And they keep asking you to step into the mud puddle. So somewhere people have to figure out what mud is and isn't, and be able to move to or away from that.


On a side note, I am still due beer and travel money, and many experiences.

[PDJane]

6. Single payer is probably the main answer to

Health care spending, yes.....in part because the government cuts out a lot of profit-based charges.

But yes, the biggest portion of the American budget is the money spent, both overtly and covertly, on military and intelligence spending, most of it wasted.

[dkf]

11. If you look at the government projections, Medicare and medicaid grow

While discretionary spending including military spending stay pretty much the same.

See chart 7 of this publication by the US Govt.

http://www.fms.treas.gov/frsummary/frsummary2010.pdf

They also conveniently left out interest spending on the debt. See chart 2 for that additional expense.

And then look at chart 8 to see how Obama's health care reform significantly cut expenses from the 2009 projections.

[JDPriestly]

10. And while we are at it, we spend a lot of money maintaining

separate worker's compensation administrations. If we had single payer insurance, worker's compensation would only need to concern itself with lost wages and similar kinds of problems, not covering medical care for work-related accidents. We could save a lot of bureaucracy if we could get rid of worker's compensation insurance.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

16. PROBS ARE MILITARY/INDUS/COMPLEX.... AND REPUBLICAN PROPAGANDISTS

[Nossida]

17. Pffft

Like I am going to listen to that Corporate Stooge.
Joe sings for his Corporate Bosses, again.

Joe doesn't need Medicare or Medicaid.
But most of you will. if his Corporate
buddies have it their way, it will be
destroyed. Anything but cut the War Department.

Why waste a moment on MSM drivel?