On 3/29/2017 at 7:08 AM, tuktuktuk said:

When I dream about a single payer healthcare system I imagine somebody like Nancy Pelosi being in charge and the sweet dream turns into a long national nightmare.  We'll just have another tax like social security and medicaid that those idiots (dems and republicans alike) can dip into to pay for all sorts of other things that both you and I would agree are foolish. Maybe those other countries don't elect idiots like her and her fellow congressmen.

Well, that's kind of my point. Of course our politicians are a bunch of idiots too. But it still works. 

The thing that would likely do in an effort for single payer over there is the lobbying and corruption from the private sector that distorts public policy.

On 3/31/2017 at 1:00 PM, thaihome said:

Here is an excellent article on one problem with US medical care. No politics, it shows how hospitals and doctors are gaming the medical code system to inflate the the cost of care. The patient had no insurance and was billed over $300k for care that was estimated to cost about  $85k.

TH 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/magazine/those-indecipherable-medical-bills-theyre-one-reason-health-care-costs-so-much.html

What a shame !! And I thought the banks were the biggest criminals....