Should the US adopt a single-payer health care system?

[Person Man]

Our health insurance industry is a massive employer. It would take about two decades for us to transition without any negative economic repercussions. It's the same problem I have with the ideas of simplifying the tax code or making college education 100% free. There are jobs at stake when we do these things. People make a living off the complexities of our systems.

I think the ACA system is severely underrated and will work provided saboteurs stop saboteuring and expand Medicaid.

This. The ACA is our last chance to avoid a "hard landing" of the health care industry. At this point, the alternatives are very unattractive.

[Person Man]

Where would the trend that insurance companies losing its ability to compete against companies that provide doctors and access take us?

[Person Man]

A public option and ACA-style markets with a mandate along with the repeal of tax benefits for company insurance would probably work better with less effort.

As awesome as the end result of single-payer would be, it would be a nightmare to implement.

We already have single-payer in the form of Medicare and Medicaid, but politicians in both parties restrict access so only 1/3 of the population receive the benefits. Republicans are terrified of the political implications derived from creating single-payer insurance for catastrophic medicine, though, it would be a huge boon to the economy. Democrats are terrified of the political fallout and ideological compromise associated with swapping pork-dispensaries for entitlements that actually work.

I heard of such a scheme in the Atlantic but what would be catastrophic and when would end of life termination of care be determined or how?
I'm guessing that anything short of catastrophic care could then be taken care of in Walmart or Walgreens or something like that?

[Person Man]

A public option and ACA-style markets with a mandate along with the repeal of tax benefits for company insurance would probably work better with less effort.

As awesome as the end result of single-payer would be, it would be a nightmare to implement.

We already have single-payer in the form of Medicare and Medicaid, but politicians in both parties restrict access so only 1/3 of the population receive the benefits. Republicans are terrified of the political implications derived from creating single-payer insurance for catastrophic medicine, though, it would be a huge boon to the economy. Democrats are terrified of the political fallout and ideological compromise associated with swapping pork-dispensaries for entitlements that actually work.

I heard of such a scheme in the Atlantic but what would be catastrophic and when would end of life termination of care be determined or how?

I'm guessing that anything short of catastrophic care could then be taken care of in Walmart or Walgreens or something like that?

Doctor's offices are also a thing...

The gist is that routine care could possibly becoming inexpensive or easy to finance if insurance companies are no longer providing care.

Another issue though would be specialists. Would some of their care like blood tests and what not be pushed onto general practitioners while things like MRIs, tissue/cell grafts, gene therapy, radiation and chemo   be handled by catastrophic insurance?

[Person Man]

Like I said, the ACA should be as "universal" as some of the "conservative" European models are with about an insurance rate of 93-95%. If the ACA doesn't hold up because its repealed or overruled, then we really have no alternative to single -payer except for maybe targeted expansions of Medicaid and Medicare using targeted tax increases. 

[Person Man]

Something to bear in mind.

Nader is so lost I doubt he'll ever find his way back.

Corporate America is not behind the current healthcare system. In fact, an overwhelming majority of employers would prefer to get out of the healthcare industry completely, and focus on their core competence, which is not healthcare management.

We've created a trillion dollar entitlement industry that powers NGOs, like AARP. Furthermore, the industry is politically protected by both Republicans and Democrats. The former support Medicare/Medicaid because their voters abuse it, and the latter lend support because it's their political turf.

We can only dream of a day when corporate America turns on the government-funded healthcare industrial complex, and they force through reform or they make Medicare and Medicaid available to everyone, without raising taxes.

The United States needs a single-payer system more than anything else. Health care is a basic human necessity, and the U.S. government should not stand by and allow its citizens to go into ridiculous amounts of debt just to pay for necessary procedures (or, on the other hand, have its citizens never go for procedures because they don't think that they can afford it). Free services are a must, yet even Medicare as it exists today does not cover all medical costs for seniors. We need to improve the system and let it cover all people. Obamacare was a mess from the start which could never work on the level of a single-payer system. Why are we the only advanced economy without any form of universal healthcare? It is embarrassing, frankly. Regarding the loss of jobs, the government will have to try its best to employ the people who lost their jobs. Unfortunately, this is an effect of its implementation, but it is a short-term problem compared to the long-term problem of healthcare costs.

Just keep in mind that there will not be major change until unsustainable becomes unviable.