It is true that the Medicare program in the US is a single payer system but it allows private insurance companies to administer Medicare funded programs. I have already pointed out, using personal experience, how effective I believe that system to be. I have more confidence in a private insurance company administering such a program than the federal government. I worked for the federal government in Washington, D.C. for two years (National Endowment for the Arts)and did contract work for that agency for seven years so I had an opportunity to see the bureaucracy operate at close range. It ain't a pretty sight.
I was asked the reason profit oriented insurance companies could not compete with a government operated health care plan: it's because the government would not have the cost of "profit" built into it's operation. That would allow the government to operate more cheaply than the private companies can. "Cheap" does not always ensure quality of care or service.
Art Brooks: I'm beginning to wonder if we live in the same country. You are under the impression that the ultimate goal of HB 3200 is NOT to eventually create a government run health care program?
I'll see if I can find some figures about how many patients from Canada or Great Britain annually seek health care in the U. S.
A question: How many of you who have government run health care programs have ever experienced the kind of program we have in the United States?