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by axlee 2360 days ago
They are are already paying twice as much as any other developed nation with a "free-market" approach to healthcare. I do not understand the mental gymnastics to reach the conclusion that citizens as a whole would pay more in a single-payer system. They might pay more taxes indeed, but their private insurance costs would disappear overnight. As for healthcare costs inflation, that would quickly disappear with the transparency mandated by a single-payer system. One of the arguments explaining the always-rising healthcare costs in the US is a complete darkness from the consumer side on the actual price of the healthcare they are getting, thus allowing gouging at every level.
2 comments

>I do not understand the mental gymnastics to reach the conclusion that citizens as a whole would pay more in a single-payer system

The reasoning goes like this:

The entrenched well funded (and money loosely translates to political power) interests influence the legislators doing the implementing in order to ensure a regulatory capture that allows them to continue swindling people at their current level but because it is now proxied through the additional overhead of government the net cost to the citizenry is greater than the current "get swindled directly" system and we have little/no net change in outcomes.

Basically people don't trust the government to not screw it up so badly that it actually costs more. I'm sure the cost would come down over time but with the high cost and uncertainty involved that's a tough sell.

>I do not understand the mental gymnastics

Everyone who works in healthcare now would become a low-paid government employee. That seems like your source of opposition.

Socialized healthcare doesn't mean doctors are a government employees. It's still private profit driven companies running their businesses. It's just the government instead of your insurance company paying.
So if I'm a contractor with one a single legal client, does that make me that client's employee?