G,
I agree completely in that the 3rd party payer system has destroyed U.S. healthcare, made millions for just a few people (the CEO's), raped and plundered the landscape of medicine.
I further agree that single payer is the way to go, PLUS medical malpractice tort reform. One will not happen without the other. I believe the single payer needs to be the patient. Until the patient has full responsibility for what gets ordered for tests and what doesn't (and the doctor has the threat of lawsuit removed from daily life), the healthcare costs could dramatically go down.
I fear that U.S. governement involvement will only drive these costs up, reduce our incomes, and create more redtape and administrative overhead.
If this were a 3rd world country where the governement could just fix the system by redesign, we might all fare better. I've never lived outside the U.S., but it's clear that we had all get used to living at a lower standard because our economy will no longer support more people on disability and Medicare retirement than are paying into it.
Here in Maine, we officially have more people that DO NOT WORK than people who do. The unofficial Maine status slogan: "Maine, the way life should be," ahhh it might have been true 20 years ago....
