I talk to Canadians on a daily basis during my travels around the Northeast. They do not complain about their healthcare system. The few times the subject came up they had nothing but praise. One driver from Ontario boasted how little it cost. I wish I could talk to more Europeans, those who come from countries with a Universal Healthcare system, or even those who require insurance and have much lower prices than in the USA, but my Citizen's Band Radio won't reach that far, and not many European truck drivers bump American docks. There's a bit of water in the way.
The problem with a Government Funded Healthcare system is that too many people and companies with power are greedy. They don't want to lose their slice of the pie. There are answers, if you're willing to look beyond your pockets. Let's start with the easiest problem to fix.
In many states, hospitals, by law, must give care to everyone regardless of whether they can pay or not. This raises prices as those who have insurance and can pay cover the losses from those who can't. With a Universal Healthcare System everyone would have coverage, all the hospital bills would be paid, and most of the hospital prices would come down.
Under a new Healthcare System, doctors would see more patients and earn less. They would have to join the middle class. How terrible. Doctors are not infallible. I've run across many who know as much or less than I know about what I need. They push procedures or medicines that I do not need. I've found that the advice from a Chiropractor and the "realignment"--read cracking of my back--is less expensive and longer lasting, both by a large factor, than the invasive procedures recommended by doctors.
Under a new Healthcare System, Insurance companies would have major problems. Health Insurance would disappear. The money saved on those outrageous premiums--for my wife and myself I'm supposed to pay more than $800 a month--could go to the unavoidably higher taxes. Insurance companies would just have to make do with less lucrative Home, Auto, and Life insurance.
Pharmaceuticals would be the big losers. Or would they? They'd have to lower their prices, but if all medicines are free to the public, paid for by the new system, then many Americans would no longer have to choose between eating or staying healthy. The drug companies would sell more, thereby closing the gaps caused by lower prices.
