Warren Buffett Says America Is "So Rich" It Can Afford Single Payer

[newwurldmn]

It's not just pay. All that time and money that doctors invest in their training as well as the risk they take every day when performing their surgeries, writing prescriptions, administering medicine is all risk. If a CEO botches a company, he can usually get a job somewhere else and continue his career. If a doctor botches a surgery, his or her career is usually over. CEO's and traders don't have to carry malpractice insurance. The risk and opportunity cost alone justifies the higher salary. For all the people who wish that doctors were paid the same as teachers and government workers, I wish that they lived in a society where that was true.

Under a single payer, doctors may not need to carry that risk.

Perhaps that risk is because we have a fundamentally private sector system where the insurance companies absolve themselves of all potential practice by their "in network" doctors.

And not all government workers are paid the same.

 

[ET180]

Under a single payer, doctors may not need to carry that risk.

Then who would carry the risk? How would that work?

Perhaps that risk is because we have a fundamentally private sector system where the insurance companies absolve themselves of all potential practice by their "in network" doctors.

I don't think an insurance company should share liability with doctors. All that would do is shift cost from the doctor to the insurance company which would only make insurance more expensive.

And not all government workers are paid the same.

I never claimed that they were. I was just using that as an example of a low-risk (from an employment perspective...government jobs generally have more job security) career. Certainly there are high-risk (from a survival / life / health perspective) government jobs (law enforcement, military, secret service, etc).

 

[newwurldmn]

Then who would carry the risk? How would that work?



I don't think an insurance company should share liability with doctors. All that would do is shift cost from the doctor to the insurance company which would only make insurance more expensive.



I never claimed that they were. I was just using that as an example of a low-risk (from an employment perspective...government jobs generally have more job security) career. Certainly there are high-risk (from a survival / life / health perspective) government jobs (law enforcement, military, secret service, etc).

How are all these things handled in every other country in the world with single payer insurance?

 

[AAAintheBeltway]

I didn't read the entire thread so sorry if I am repeating someone.

I will take Buffett at his word if he promises to utilize the single payer system for himself and his family. We know the odds of that happening are the same as Nancy Pelosi and her billionaire husband, the Clinton's , the Obama's, the Kennedy's et al using it. They will not sit in crowded waiting rooms full of illegal immigrants and their large families, nor will they be told "sorry, you're too old to warrant a hip replacement" or " you'll have to go on the waiting list for that MRI, expect to get it in 10 or 12 months."

We all know that will never happen. It's like that moron Katy Perry calling for a world without walls, while she herself lives in a compound surrounded by 15 foot walls.

The solution to health insurance is a private market for those who want it and some form of government provided insurance for those who can't pay. Why should all of us have to suffer a government system when we know the private sector provided excellent health care for the vast majority of us before Obama tried to destroy it? The only reason is liberals' never changing impulse to punish responsible people in the name of "fairness" and drag everyone down to the lowest common denominator.

 

[murray t turtle]

I didn't read the entire thread so sorry if I am repeating someone.

I will take Buffett at his word if he promises to utilize the single payer system for himself and his family. We know the odds of that happening are the same as Nancy Pelosi and her billionaire husband, the Clinton's , the Obama's, the Kennedy's et al using it. They will not sit in crowded waiting rooms full of illegal immigrants and their large families, nor will they be told "sorry, you're too old to warrant a hip replacement" or " you'll have to go on the waiting list for that MRI, expect to get it in 10 or 12 months."

We all know that will never happen. It's like that moron Katy Perry calling for a world without walls, while she herself lives in a compound surrounded by 15 foot walls.

The solution to health insurance is a private market for those who want it and some form of government provided insurance for those who can't pay. Why should all of us have to suffer a government system when we know the private sector provided excellent health care for the vast majority of us before Obama tried to destroy it? The only reason is liberals' never changing impulse to punish responsible people in the name of "fairness" and drag everyone down to the lowest common denominator.

%%
I agree with about 95% of that.
But we dont need the gov involved anymore- anyone can go to emergency room + get treatment, by law. Or they can join the US military if they qualify.No where in the US constitution is hospital care , [not to be confused with health care] promised. Tow truck insurance is not car care care, any more than health insurance is ''health care''

Imagine the silliness of some that say car care consists of tow truck insurance. LOL .Health insurance is not heath care @ all. Tow truck insurance is not car care also.
The gov big enough to give you everything can easily take it away; good shot AAA.

Mr Buffet is free to give all his money to the US Treasury , but he is known for paying few taxes[on a % basis] LOL

 

[speedo]

I haven't noticed any mention of Medicaid which provides free health coverage to 74 million low income and disabled people.

 

[murray t turtle]

I haven't noticed any mention of Medicaid which provides free health coverage to 74 million low income and disabled people.

%%
Maybe, Speedo,because it's not free @ all??

 

[speedo]

%%
Maybe, Speedo,because it's not free @ all??

Only to the recipients..not to the taxpayer.

 

[ET180]

The solution to health insurance is a private market for those who want it and some form of government provided insurance for those who can't pay.

There will always be a private market because there will always be doctors who will offer services if you pay them enough.

How are all these things handled in every other country in the world with single payer insurance?

Healthy people end up paying for the unhealthy. There is no magic single payer with unlimited resources. Resources that could have funded other things that society needs are instead spent on healthcare. And ultimately, since resources are limited, some decisions will need to be made about what is worth saving -- and it won't depend on how much someone has contributed to society, it will only depend on expected outcome -- how much money for what kind of prognosis / most likely outcome. In such a system, more government money would be invested into reviving a 31 year old drug addict who overdosed on heroin than a 81 year old scientist who cured a rare disease, but now has skin cancer.

 

[SteveM]

There is an incredible amount of price gouging and outright fraud in American healthcare. Before we address anything else, there should be a special commission appointed to expose and completely root it out for all Americans to see. Then we can take the next steps.