I'm surrounded by Liberals!
I attended a meeting the other day, one that requires me to be there by my job, since a big part of my job is networking.
Anyhow, the people running the meeting were proud that they had voted for either Hillary or Obama. They talked about Single-Payer medical plans, and how good it would be to have such things.
Let me explain the Single-Payer medical system. The government pays for everything, and if you try to pay a doctor for services rendered, then both you and the doctor will be in deep trouble.
Do we have a health care crisis in this country? Probably. But it's brought on by people going to the emergency room for colds, or other minor medical matters. But it will be a whole lot worse when we are talking about making medical care for "free."
First of all, it isn't "free." It's paid for by increasing taxes on you and everybody else. And when I mean increasing taxes, I mean a lot. The numbers that the present Presidential candidates are quoting are less than 1/4th of what it will really cost. Because there will be layers and layers of bureaucracy. As of today, when looking at transfer payments (money gathered in taxes that are paid to citizens, like Welfare), only something like *17* cents actually make it into the hands of the recipients. The other 83 cents is absorbed in bureaucracy.
Now, we only have to look at our Northern neighbor to see how well a Single-Payer system runs, just look at Canada. It takes months to get something simple like a CT scan, which you get less than in an hour at any American medical facility. Like the "Socialist Paradise" that Cuba is, all you have to do is look at what way the rafts are going. Canadians are flocking to the United States like migrating geese to get medical treatment in a timely manner.
Now, let's say we do elect someone who wants to enact a Single-Payer system, and they manage to pull it off. Everyone would then have equal access to health care, and it's fully paid for. Despite the massive tax increase, which would cause a recession (but I digress), suddenly, our system will be deluged with new patients. Unless there was a corresponding increase of capacity, then quality will go down.
Look at it this way. You have a field of land, that produces X amount of grain a year. After accounting for loss, and grain needed for replanting, you can feed Y people. You have a stable system. But then, due to some reason we now have Z people, and Z is more than Y. Either one of two things is going to happen. Either you find more land to raise more grain to feed the extra people, or some people will starve to death, until the number of Y is reached again, and the system stabilizes again.
With the incentive of being a doctor being taken away (you won't have doctors getting paid $100,000+ a year, that's too much), then we have no way to increase capacity. That means all of us will be going on a starvation diet of medical assistance. Care will have to be rationed, and even more people will get a substandard level of care than gets it today.
There are people out there that need care. The disabled need help, because many of them are not able to afford health care and have no way to obtain it. These people already have Medicare, so it will only get worse for them. The ones who do work, but are unable to afford health care need some help. However, if they study and improve their knowledge base, they can get better jobs and afford the health care they need. Those who do not work and do not want to work shouldn't get anything, but those are the people that will drain the blood from the system.
Consider this before you pull that lever for President.