With that said, what will single-payer look like?
One things for certain. Spending will have to go down. There's no way the government can afford all that healthcare spending plus all the additional usage that will happen when people pay out of pocket. Some of the cuts will be popular (insurance company profits, all those jobs related to managing billing, selling health insurance etc), but a lot of it will have to be from actual healthcare. If the Canadian experience is any indicator, most of the cuts will be on chronic, non life threatening conditions.
The Canadian healthcare system is excellent if you broke your leg or are having a baby or lung cancer, but it's stinks if you need a knee replacement (two year waiting list in my province), or need a family doctor (chronic shortages in many parts of the country). Now, I like the Canadian system and see it as a major improvement over the American one, but you guys ought to know what you are getting into. A large segment of Americans will see a decline in their quality of care.
