Vets to be covered? Sure. Greater government control? No way
If you are talking about Vets only, I think they are already covered by the VA system.
As for the rest of us, I see no reason to provide greater power to the government.
If you like what OPEC does with the supply of oil, then you'll like universal health care, along with its control of who can be treated for what, setting prices for doctors, and what medicines can be provided.
I don't like monopolies like OPEC or any other kind of monopoly. I ESPECIALLY don't like my own government to have a monopoly over my health care.
In the U.S., the percentage of men who have had a colonoscopy is up around 75 percent. In Canada, where tests are rationed, it's around 25 percent.
This means that if I'd lived in Canada, I might be dead by now. My colon tumor was discovered early and treated properly.
No way do I want my government or any other group to have a monopoly over my health care.
Regards,
Louis of PA
Here is what one doctor recently submitted to Hugh Hewitt.com:
Dr. R. in CO:
My background, inspired by my sister's new husband, a great cardiac surgeon, I decided to become a physician around age 12. Ironically, money had nothing to do with it, but now that I am close to retirement, I am sure glad I that made some. Physician's pay is about to plummet.
The type of person who will be applying to medical school in the future will be a lot different than me and my classmates. I spent part of my 4th year of medical school in London and saw the future.
Students there knew they were going to be low paid but secure drones and didn't work very hard. I knew that I had unlimited possibilities if I worked hard. I did work very hard, both in training and in practice, and I view myself as a great success.
As a student in London, I was in the library reading journals every spare moment. The only English student I ever saw there ( in the library) was planning on going to the States after graduation to do a residency in neurosurgery. None were available in England (topic for another day).
All the other students were going to be primary care doctors. They had no other choice. They did no extra studying, just got through the program. They were going to be sent to the equivalent of Appalachia to do primary care for quite a few years to achieve payback for their education.
One of my fellow physicians is a refugee from Canada. He say that it took about two years to implement fully the one-payer system there. Then, healthcare providers got paid under the system just great for the next two years.
Then, they ran out of money.
Payments were slashed, waiting lists established, and denial of care ( a more realistic term than rationing) was under way. I believe that last year the Supreme Court in Canada ruled that access to a waiting list does not constitute medical care.
This came after a man was told to wait months to get an MR scan to find his brain tumor. He didn't wait, but came to the States and had his brain tumor detected in a matter of days.
He returned to Canada to be told that it would take months for him to get in to see a neurosurgeon and some time after that to actually have an operation in a hospital. He went South again and once more had appropriate treatment in a matter of days. The Canadian system declined to pay for the US care and the lawsuit followed.
Where are we going to go when we are denied care here? Mexico?, Thailand?, Singapore?, Costa Rica?
Finally, a word about the "uninsured". These folks, estimated to number ~46 million, are one of the big drivers pushing the nation to a one-payer system.
Study after study has shown that most of these patients are 1) eligible for gov't programs already,2) transiently uninsured because of job change, 3) making good money but have elected not to buy insurance, 4) illegal aliens.
The hardcore long-term uninsured only number 10 to 15 million. In a nation of 300 million, this really should not be a big problem. Providing some level of care for the 3-5% that are truly uninsurable should not be a justification for screwing things up for everybody else.