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Greetings. I live in Long Lake and have been a member of the Campaign for NY Health for the past five years. The Campaign’s sole objective is the enactment of the NY Health Act into law.
For those of you who may not be familiar with the term, “single-payer” healthcare in the U.S. is so called because the government, whether national or state, becomes the sole payer to treatment providers for the costs of all medical services, including dental, optical, pharmaceutical, long-term care and mental health, incurred by their subscribers. It’s a role now played by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for persons 65 and older who are recipients of Medicare and for those who are recipients of Social Security Disability Benefits. When and if single-payer is enacted, commercial or private for-profit health insurance companies, the primary healthcare payers for their subscribers for the past fifty years, will be proscribed from selling private insurance policies and no longer play that role; which explains, in large part, the fierce opposition to single payer’s passage into law. Billions of dollars are at stake.
If you’ve heard about single-payer through the mass media rather than the several organizations that actively support NY Health – the Campaign for NY Health; Physicians for a National Health PLAN; NYS Nurses Association – you’ve probably been misinformed.
No, single-payer healthcare is not socialism – like Medicare, it’s informed by social democracy, by the belief that health care is a right to which all residents of the US and the individual states are entitled.
No, single payer does not take away your right to choose your physician or healthcare provider. Your current insurance policy does that, limiting the providers you’re permitted to see without incurring a surcharge; often requiring prior approvals for now-standard tests like MRI’s and CAT scans; always requiring sometimes hefty deductibles and co-payments. Without restricting access to healthcare, which these measures are designed to do, private insurance companies cannot make a profit for their shareholders.
NY Health employs no restrictions. Rather, It has two objectives: provide access to comprehensive healthcare to all persons who live or work in NYS, including the two million New Yorkers who have no medical coverage; and provide it at reasonable cost, much lower than that charged by insurance companies, even if your health benefits are provided by your employer.
Specifically …
Benefits, for all NYS residents or those who work in the State but live elsewhere, once you enroll in NYHealth:
- Comprehensive: All medical care, inpatient and outpatient, dental, ear & eye care, prescription drugs, mental health, long-term care, with no deductibles or co-payments; one exclusion – cosmetic surgery, save for repairs for injury or congenital impairment; no limits on providers in NY State and, within a short time after enactment of the law, most states in US.
- Inclusive: If you receive any Federally-granted or protected medical, disability or retirement benefits – Medicare, Medicaid, VA, ERISA — you continue to retain them but are eligible for all NYHealth benefits.
… Further, all enrollees can see the provider(s) of their own choosing in NYS and, within most states in US; since all reimbursement rates, if low, will be increased to match Medicare rates, there will be additional providers to choose from;
… If you receive Medicare — NYHealth will pay the cost of your Medicare Part B and save subscribers $6100 on average annually ;
…If you receive any other Federally-protected retirement or disability benefits – for example, ERISA, VA, etc. — NYHealth will pay for all care not covered by those benefits, including any required deductibles or co-pays;
- Finally: Counties will no longer be obliged to pay their $8 B share of the State’s Medicaid costs. Those will be fully absorbed by NYHealth, enabling each county to reduce property taxes, now used to pay their Medicaid allotment.
In sum, the 2 million New Yorkers, 10% of the State’s population, who have no access to healthcare will now have it; as many as the one-third of New Yorkers who regularly put off healthcare will now no longer be obliged to do so; and no New Yorker will have to accumulate medical debt, once enrolled in NYHealth.
Costs: A good many costs, addressed via an elaborate funding mechanism, too complex for this article. I will provide a brief overview with data from the Rand Corporation’s An Assessment of the NY Health Act (2018) and from Dr. Leonard Rodberg’s Summary and Evaluation … of the Rand Study (2018), to be found on the website of the Campaign for NY Health, www.nyhcampaign.org.
Given current modes of healthcare spending, NYS and its residents are projected to spend $311B in 2022; in contrast to the NY Health Act, with net savings of 3.6% …
The big changes when the NY Health Act becomes law – no more purchases of private insurance by individuals, businesses and organizations and the end of deductibles and co-payments for insured individuals; replaced by a NYHealth Tax; savings realized by the reduction of administrative billing costs and lower negotiated drug costs; resulting in net savings of 3.6%. The estimated 11.4 % in savings will be utilized for additional healthcare resources in anticipation of increased demand for services.
The Rand Corporation’s ten-year estimate of net cumulative savings, expenditures v. income, will amount to 2% per annum for the period 2022 to 2031, with annual costs lowered by 3% or $10B by 2031.
The big bone of contention is the dramatic rise in graduated income taxes, approximately 20% to be paid by wage earners, the remaining 80% by their employers, with total amounts for each lower than those currently paid for private insurance premiums. As per Dr. Rodberg, NYHealth will initially require $159.6 B annually in payroll and non-payroll taxes to cover all costs …
Note that the tax schedule rates, while hypothetical, are based on realistic assessments of New Yorkers’ financial circumstances; they can’t be finalized until the NY Health Act is passed into law. It should also be noted that the first $25K of an individual’s income will not be taxed. Ultimately, the health tax rates are graduated to ensure the inclusion of the 80% of New Yorkers who earn less than $100K annually. The rates are also established per individual not per household so all members’ incomes are counted to determine cost per household or family. At present, a private healthcare policy for a family of four amounts to $27K annually (Kaiser Health News, 2021), plus more than $3K in deductibles and co-payments, up from $21K in 2017. Just take another look at the figures.
Conclusions & Prospect for Enactment: When and if enacted, the NY Health Act will provide a full range of benefits for ordinary New Yorkers that the great majority of us would never have been able to afford. It will not only provide us with unexpected income but with great peace of mind, welcome relief from constant fear and anxiety about our and our families’ well-being. Accordingly, the prospects for passage are uncertain. Ever since the NYHA came close to approval in the Legislature in 2019, the forces of opposition have been gathering, galvanized by this prospect, particularly the corporate entities with the most to lose financially, whose lobbyists will flood Albany and Washington with anti-single payer messaging.
Prospects for passage of the bill can best be measured by the support we receive from the New Yorkers who stand to benefit from its enactment, folks like many of the persons reading this.
If you’d like additional information or want to get involved, start by logging on to the website of the Campaign for NY Health, www.nyhcampaign.org. If you scroll across the top of the title page, click on any of the links, beginning with “Learn” and scrolling down to “FAQs”, to find out more about NY Health and the Campaign. If you’d like to get involved, contact either of the Campaign’s co-Directors, YuLing Koh Hsu, yuling@nyhcampaign.org, or Ursula Rozum, ursula@nyhcampaign.org.
You can also contact me at Jacarney4214@gmail.com or log onto my FB page, North Country Access to Health Care Committee.
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I’m all for making sure everyone has access to quality health care, but when the government is the only entity providing (as in paying for) your health care, then the government can decide if and when and how you get health care. The only people who can ‘opt out’ of this system are those with a lot of money. Everyone else will be forced to accept the government “health insurance.” “Single-payer” health is unfortunately one more tool in the government’s toolbox to control you and one more big government bureaucracy.
And here comes the fear mongering of “then the government can decide if and when and how you get your health care” and “Single payer health is one more tool in the governments toolbox to control you…” The health system is broke in the US ,we pay a lot for minimal care and a single payer system works. Worry more about social media controlling the populace than the government.
Fear mongering? You are free to trust the government and give them the authority to decide what is best for you medically.. However, it is not “fear” to have and maintain self sovereignty over your own health and medical decisions. Get that one straight before you use that bogus, yet predictable talking point and come up with a better reason for your stance.
That’s the right phrase, fear-mongering, by a corporate mass media that jump when Big Insuranca and Big Pharma tell them to. Again, if you prefer to turn control of your health care over to for profit insurance companies, that’s your choice. Unfortunately, that’s the choice we all have right now.Single payer will give you another choice, one firmly in your and your provider’s hands. Tough idea to get used to, when we haven’t had that in 50 years. Think about it. Re’read the article.
If you actually believe that Big Pharma and Big Insurance do not share their greedy talons within the backbone of the gov as well as many legislators and vice versa then you need to do more research for yourself to find out how they are all connected. Elected officials may start out with good intent but many lose their integrity and touch with the people they are supposed to be serving, not ruling.
NO, Fear-mongering, is definitely not the right phrase- more like reality.
Why is it that we cannot understand that “Big Pharma, Big insurance” sharing their “greedy talons within the backbone of guv…” is the money that they get from overcharging us in premiums and from denying claims to maintain profits? We don’t we understand this? You can blather about guv all you want, but when you drive over a highway or use the Internet you are using systems developed with public dollars. The trouble with our guv is that it is so well lubricated by the dollars they steal from us to do their bidding for them.
“Single payer will give you another choice”.
No, single payer will be the ONLY choice.
Quoting the article “When and if single-payer is enacted, commercial or private for-profit health insurance companies, the primary healthcare payers for their subscribers for the past fifty years, will be proscribed from selling private insurance policies and no longer play that role…”
So as bad as the insurance companies may be, at least there is more than one choice.
You’re absolutely correct, Pete. When the NYHA enacted, private insursnce companies will not bexable to offer policies covering any benefit already provided by NY Health. In short, they’ll be out of the healthcare business.
On the money, Bill.
Bill,
I agree. Third-party healthcare is every bit as controlling – and in many cases more so – than government plans. They have set themselves up to siphon about a third of our healthcare dollars into pockets that don’t need to be there. Certain important medications and procedures are not available to plan members even with premium coverage. Leave the third-party plans for the wealthy and pass on the savings to the rest of the country with “Medicare for all” type plans.
At least we can vote politicians in/out of office. Third-party plans only exist as an unnecessary strain on our health care. Consumers can put NO pressure on them.
Great difference between paying for and providing healthcare. Healthcare providers, yourcand everyone else’s, will remain the same, with no govt interference; will submit their bills to a govt agency, just like they do now with Medicare, and receive payment without all the rigamarole and paper work attendant on payment from private for-profit insurance companies. That profit, by the way, comes out of your and your health providers’ pockets in the form of reduced services, ie, often great difficulty accessing the ones you need. That’s the current system. The new healthcare system being envisioned will see to it you get what you need in a timely fashion without a lot of rigamarole.
Thorough outline of the single payor option. Lots of questions about innovative treatments that are commonly rejected by health insurance companies because long term results research has not been completed.
Government can’t even successfully run a lemonade stand and people actually trust and want to give them more power to manage and regulate medical decisions for all citizens, removing self sovereignty over our own heath? No, thank you! Keep healthcare out of the hands of ideological bureaucrats who do not need any more authority than what they already abuse and daily mis-manage!
And today, for profit corporations make those decisions for you. I’ll take the chance with my government. Any thing is better than what we have. We rank last in health care compared to other wealthy countries in the world.
Yet the government and for profit corporations are entwined together on a cushy $$ filled mattress.. It is not an either/or system; one needs the other to thrive . There is too much power and corruption in both courts and I do not entrust either to make decisions for me or my family.
Not a bad idea to remain skeptical, particularly given the conflicting claims. My.suggestion is that you educate as best you can so you become clearer about the choices at hand. Start with the article I wrote and you just read making use of the links embedded in it to get you started. Stay connected and stay healthy.
I can’t agree more. Just like Wall Street and “Too big to fail”. Why not put all of the pressure on government officials that we can dump every so often? We can’t put pressure on 3rd party players. Better yet, term limits to keep that mattress thin.
Accountability and term limits. I’m all in for that!
Yet, you fully trust the government to run our wars for us?
On the money, Bill.
More like….follow the money, Bill.
The true Adirondack divide ! Those who want the government to succeed in helping it’s citizens and those who think government is the problem. There are so many medically, uninsured citizens, under insured citizens, senior citizens without dental care or hearing aids, uneven distribution of health care professionals of all types throughout the country and the big elephant in the room – growing mental health problems among old and young with a lack of facilities and trained professionals. Plus opioids and fentanyl epidemics and, yes, Covid. Who else but the government, both Federal and state, has the heft to even attempt to solve these problems ? And I was reminded the other day that private philanthropy can only provide the solution for about 5% of these problems.
Yes! There would be no way to make our health system worse than it is currently, and single payer is eventually where we have to end up. Why do we allow the profits of providers to determine whether or not we get healthcare when we need it? I can’t remember the last time I had a straightforward health bill from any provider or insurance company. Every treatment results in endless rounds of arguing and fighting with both providers and insurance companies. Take a look around at the people who currently get government run healthcare. My father in law was a veteran and the care he received in the VA system was incredible. I currently know a couple of people on Medicaid, and their coverage is so much better than anything I have ever had, plus they pay nothing because their incomes are low. I recently started on Medicare and it is the first time in my life I haven’t had to argue about the billing for every treatment.
Mr. Carney nails the points!
Who could argue with the current system that makes you waste time and money while gambling on your own health? 😳
Our current health systems takes much of OUR money be it taxes, insurance premiums or copays and spends it on outrageous executive’s compensations, inefficient administration costs and often the salaries of those whose job it is to deny our health coverage! The way we administer health care in this country is a disgrace. Our current system is propped up by bought off politicians and corporate propaganda. Medicare for all or a national health system is more fair and cost effective.
ADKresident : please.. stop with the same old bogey man of fear of government. Would we even have survived without the New Deal? No entity is perfect but an imperfect government system of universal health care is definitely better than a system that puts profits over service!
Why do you think the quality of US health care has sunk below all the nations with universal healthcare?
That’s fact not fake!
I agree Bob. So far, no one has used the “S” word, but Medicare and Social Security seem to be pretty popular with recipients. They are neither extravagant nor onerous. Yes, they are expensive – you can’t get something for nothing. But the most expensive medical system is one that doesn’t get used until an emergency occurs – then emergency services to the uninsured or under insured get passed down the line to the rest of us. Bottom line is, we all pay one way or another. But at least we can vote on most government officials. With 3rd-party, we can only choose from bad options. And many have no choice at all. One thing we all can do is vote.
Right on the mark Boreas!
Wishing you and everyone a safe, healthy and meaningful Holiday and 2022
Bob Meyer- cut me a break with the “fear the government’ b.s.. What people tout as division is actually diversity of opinion. Everything said here can be respectfully debated without the negative labels.
Great ideas are only ideals until there is actual accountability within gov, big pharma & insurance co’s , as they line each others pockets, playing the people against each.other for their own personal gains .. I’d love to believe the gov has our best interests at heart but they have yet to prove themselves worthy to be trusted with 1/5 of our entire economy when they can’t even manage what they have now efficiently. And we want to give them more responsibility over our lives? That’s just foolishness. Who hands their hard earned money over to a bankrupt investor to manage for them and thinks they are going to come out ahead? Just stupid , no matter how good the idea or promise may be.
Until the depth of corruption is dealt with within these entities, whether gov or private, nothing will change and good ideas remain ideals.
Government is far from perfect, but it’s a better option than the greed of private FOR PROFIT pharma and insurance cos. As for corruption and collusion, how about REPEAL CITIZENS UNITED for a start!
How about better voter turnout. It’s shameful that in one of the oldest democracies in the world we count 55% voter turnout as acceptable… even less in “off year” elections.
I’ll subscribe to term limits. That could help. But the “socialist’ bogeyman is just that. B.S.
Sorry, Bob, but your opinion, while respected, does not make it without discrepancy or make it 100% factual.
You really should add, “IN YOUR OPINION” after your statements, particularly when it come to defining or redefining the word “socialism”, because half, if not more of our great nation tends to disagree with you whether you accept it or not.
US democratic socialism: Social Security, Interstate Highway System, Rural Electrification and the CCC of Clarence Petty days, Police, Fire, & on & on.
Less than half by any measure disagree. 70+% want universal healthcare. It’s money & power & yes, corrupt politicians who get in the way of progressive policy & action that would benefit all but the very wealthy (who don’t need it). It’s mostly older white men who have fallen for the rhetoric of divide and exclusion.
As for telling me who to word what I write, people who live in glass houses. 🙂 Happy Holidays
Merry Christmas to you, Bob, from my crystal castle!
We should also not forget the socialism of the tax breaks for the wealthiest corporations and individuals. This is called corporate socialism. It is where the public pays for the private as the private feeds out of the public trough. Let us not forget either that the insurance companies which deny our claims is another form of corporate socialism. These companies also make the lion’s share of the money that they use to bribe our state and fed officials with off of Medicare Advantage Plans — another form of corporate socialism.
It may be that some of the wealthiest corporations and individuals get out of paying some taxes because they have clever lawyers and accountants or have taken advantage of loopholes. But one of the reasons there are tax breaks for businesses is because they employ people and pay them wages. Most of the wealthiest individuals have started or are invested in these businesses. If it were not for these investments, the wages would not be paid. If the corporations were not doing well, the 401Ks and other retirement plans of the average worker/taxpayer would also not be doing well.
On the other hand, 61% of Americans paid no federal tax in 2020, according to a report from the Tax Policy Center. (source: CNN). I’m sure well over 61% of corporations paid taxes.
Those 61% of zero tax payers received all sorts of benefits from the federal government. Roads, bridges, education, medicare/medicaid, defense, etc., if not also some sort of direct assistance from a multitude of other social programs. If this isn’t also socialism, I don’t know what is.
The top 1% of taxpayers pay 40 percent of all income taxes. Sure, you can argue that ‘they can afford it’ but it’s still a fact that even though some individuals and corporations get out of paying taxes, overall they pay most of the tax.
So if you say the system includes ‘corporate socialism’ there is also most certainly other kinds of socialism.
Sure, 61% of Americans pay no “income tax,” but they still pay more than 15% in payroll taxes (everyone agrees the employer portion reduces salaries by approximately whatever the amount paid). So, even the poorest low-wage worker pays a lot more in Federal taxes than many wealthy people and corporations. Payroll taxes account for 23% of all government revenue. https://taxfoundation.org/what-are-payroll-taxes-and-who-pays-them/
Hmmm. The payroll taxes you are referring to are “social insurance taxes” for Social Security and Medicare, two major Social Programs, i.e. socialism for the taxpayers. So you are complaining about this when at the same time you are also supporting ‘single payer’ socialized medicine???
Not complaining–pointing out that the argument that people of low income aren’t paying taxes is incorrect. This is also an argument for making the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share.
Just curious Z. I hear that statement all the time. Indulge me please. I’m an engineer. I need a target number. What is the wealthy persons/corporations ‘fair share’?? We need a number so we know when to stop the ‘fair share’ part of this discussion.
Responding JohnL: a start would be to have every corporation and individual pay income taxes, regardless of how they made that income. In 2020 at least 50 profitable companies paid zero in Federal tax on their huge incomes. https://itep.org/55-profitable-corporations-zero-corporate-tax/ And of course, we have billionaires who pay nothing in income taxes: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2021/06/10/propublica-tax-leak-irs-files-show-how-billionaires-pay-low-tax/7639768002/
I guess NY wants to go the route of having “Der Furher” (aka the governor) running their entire lives! Next they’ll want to be told when to wipe their asses & which hand to use to do it!
Equating the governor with Der Fuhrer (correct spelling) is both wrong and insulting to those who suffered and were murdered under Nazi and other Fascist rulers. Shame.
well democraps are just like the German civilians during WWII, the Germans followed Hitler to they demise, & the non-average democrap NY’er will follow their Der Fuhrer right off the cliff. It’s in their DNA. Democraps are like sheep, if the head sheep jumps off a cliff they will follow here right off the cliff! It’s in your nature, you’re stupid!
Your English is terrible which tells us the obvious.
Have a safe, healthy and meaningful Holiday.
The “sole payer” is not the government! It’s the responsible tax payer!
MEDICARE FOR ALL !
Yes, I’m “shouting”; because that is the simple concept.
Check out the comparisons below. They document the sad reality that the US has the most expensive healthcare system but with only mediocre results.
https://healthsystemsfacts.org/comparisons-of-health-systems/comparing-several-national-health-systems/
Yes, that’s the key point that the naysayers ignore–single payer or Medicare for all will cost us all less than we pay now. Just eliminating much of the profit that insurance companies skim out of all out wallets will result in huge savings, and we’ll finally be able to force drug companies to sell at the same much lower prices they charge much of the rest of the world. In the current system those in power have no incentives to make health care more affordable because high prices just mean more profits, more dividends, higher stock prices, bigger incomes for people in the industry. It is not like most businesses. People don’t have a choice of whether or not to purchase most medical procedures, and in our for-profit system that means there is no supply and demand pressure to keep prices down. Just look at the ripoff pricing of rapid COVID tests and their limited supply. Here we are in a worldwide health emergency and companies are ripping us off once again to make big bucks while people are literally dying because of their actions.
name me something the government runs that is cost effective! See how well obamacare did in cutting cost!
EXACTLY! All the arguments against are just obfuscations and other “opinions” trying to deny the facts you present below. No system is flawless including universal health care systems but they are so superior to ours (for patients and providers) that arguments against are laughable.
Wishing EVERYONE a safe, healthy and meaningful Holiday & New Year.
Here’s what happens when our gummint runs things. Merry Christmas to all.
https://budgetbook.heritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/SR-budget-book-2015-chart-1-1600.png
It’s much cheaper for the country to purchase health coverage wholesale rather than forcing every citizen to purchase at retail. That’s one of the major points about single payer–it costs a lot less!
It doesn’t matter what we change if we never get rid of the corruption from the root . Having the same players operating within a new system but expect different results- that is either insanity or just plain stupid. Take your pick.
But your amount of service is then also dictated by that single source. They can cut what’s covered but not reduce the cost & your stuck with it. Competition drives down prices!
The USA spends more per person on healthcare than every other country in the world! So, every other system, no matter what it is, is cheaper than ours. I think the second most expensive country is Switzerland. Ever been there? The cost of living there is around 73% higher than here in the USA, yet they still spend less on healthcare. When I was there I just doubled in my mind what I would pay for something here in the USA and I was often very close to what it cost. Of course we are also way down the list in terms of health outcomes too. The average life expectancy in Switzerland is something like 5 years more than in the USA. Our life expectancy is close to that in Poland or Curacao.
The poor American DIET and dependency on pharmaceutical drugs has much more to do with our overall poor health and lack of longevity- More so than how much $$ is spent and healthcare in general…..js
Just look to our neighbors to the north with single payer insurance. Why do so many Canadian residents come south to the US for medical procedures??? They cannot get aqueduct health care! Single payer health insurance does NOT work!
With all due respect, you are wrong.
That “so many” people is actually a minute percentage of patients in the Canadian healthcare system.
You are using anecdotal as opposed to statistical analysis to come to your conclusion. No system is perfect but in terms of medical care, cost and efficiency single payer, universal healthcare systems work much better for both patient and provider than our broken “wild west” disaster.
The US used to have the worlds best healthcare system. It is now sadly inferior to all western democratic healthcare systems. That’s not opinion, that’s statistical fact. If the capitalist free market system worked in our nation, I’d be all for it but unless you are wealthy, alas it does not.
Bottom line is your are an anti-capitalist and believe socialism is the superior governmental system that a country should embrace. There is nothing new under the sun here and the “progressive policies” you promote is nothing but the dreaded “S” word, rebranded and marketed for the American mindset, masked as social equity, while anyone who opposes your “ideas” is labeled fear mongering. Surprise, surprise.
Why dont you just call it for what it actually is and come clean with the truth: You believe Government should decide everything for us, from how much money one can make, to our healthcare, to what/how we teach our children, to keeping religion out of anything public…etc. Government is god and all need to bow the knee to it, no questions asked or permitted.
Yeah, nothing new here, except you will be strongly opposed by those who love their freedom, and will do anything to keep the government from complete control over their lives, their health, their businesses and their kids minds.
.
Geez, thanks for telling me how I think, what I believe and who I am…NOT!
Not that you care, but I believe in a mix of capitalism and socialism (ALL democratically derived from the people through legislation)… much like what we have. Need I explain? Yes, we certainly have a different view of the balance between free enterprise and govt., but to simplistically label me as you have is ridiculous and says more about you than anything else. You label me with the same old scare tactics used by Joseph McCarthy in the 50s.
And, yes I believe in the separation of church & state as written in the U.S Constitution.
Have a safe, healthy and meaningful Holiday.
Yes, I may have over-generalized my statement in labeling you, just as you have towards those who oppose government controlled healthcare as ‘fear mongering”. We tend to do that when we communicate online, not knowing the other person as an individual. So, I do retract assessing your comments in a broad, blanketed way- my apologies for that..
I do not walk in “fear of” socialism- I walk in the boldness of opposing where socialism leads to, as well as anything or anyone that threatens an individual’s liberty, freedom of thought, religion, pursuit of happiness and creative entrepreneurship- all which socialism destroys. History as already proven that….
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
ADKresident:
Thank you. Apology accepted and much appreciated. Respectful dialogue is the only way we can make progress in any society. That said, I must disagree with you to a degree. Pure socialism, like pure capitalism are both unworkable due to the very nature of our species. I wish for a balance of entrepreneurial capitalism that fosters all kind of businesses, small to large with all the risks and rewards along with public ownership of essential services like health care, police, fire, highways, electric etc. I too am for personal freedom; of and from religion, thought, and speech [as long as it doesn’t encourage violence or harm to others], and action, [as long as it doesn’t harm others]. As Locke said, a democracy is a social contract to exist together with civility. If we don’t have that we don’t have community and our nation crumbles like many that have come and gone before.
People confuse the economic systems of capitalism & socialism with the political systems of democracy and non-democratic systems. Apples & oranges as it were.
Hopefully we all want progress toward a better life for all of us and for future generations. The world and all its workings is an incredibly complex thing and simple yes or no, all this or all that will just not work. Let’s hope we the people prevails.
Never forget Lincoln, “A house divided cannot stand”.
Here is a related, and much simpler, reform that is also necessary. Require hospitals to charge the same prices for all patients. No more negotiated discounts for insurance companies, as they just result in hospitals jacking up the prices for the uninsured. The result is that those who can least afford it pay the most!
We have taken the first step by requiring hospitals to release their price lists to the public, although many have yet to do so. Now let’s finish the job with one price for all.
This is very informative! Thank you so much for doing such a great job. keep sharing good content.