Commie Killer, perhaps.

You see, in the 80's, I was trained to kill commies from the former Soviet Union. They are no more, but there are commies in this country today. I make no distinction between the two and would gladly use my training to rid this country of those parasites. As the old saying goes, "The only good commie is a dead commie".

Alright alright, no more Gary Busey for you!

I'm about as libertarian as they come, but a single payer system would be far superior to the oligarchical system we have today. The economics around this are pretty indisputable.

The current healthcare system we have today is easily the most wasteful system in the world. It's good for those who have the best insurance plans, or those on the government dole, but for the middle-to-working classes its about as bad as it can be.

Which is why the liberals who argue for single payer actually do a decent job, because they compare it to the rectum backwards system presently in place.

What we really need is a true free market system, which would bring costs down and improve quality for nearly everyone.

But if I had to chose between the status quo and single-payer, I'd pick single payer.

So now I'm Gary Busey, huh? Great!

Blueskies, you and I both know that the medical system is broken but government intervention isn't the way to fix it. They'll only make the situation worse. Reducing regulations to allow medical coverage across state lines and eliminating the virtual monopoly that current providers have is the best way to reduce costs. Allow the free market to determine the cost based upon competition, service, and value with limited government interference.

Actually if the current system was more free market, where they didn't have to recoup all money put into research for new medicine within 5 years (which takes close to that once patent is gotten that the FDA approves) before it goes generic, you'd see prices drop. The costs are out of control due to the regulations on it. With so much paperwork needed, most of the employees are all paper pushers and administration.

But due to the downsides of the system, we also have the most advanced medical research in the world. Most of what gets discovered here, allows for greater gains around the world. Moving it to a government system will completely destroy the research section of medicine, because it will be a casualty of keeping costs under control.

We need reform, but this wasn't reform, and single payer would fall apart eventually as evidenced around the globe. It can't be sustained long term, if the administration section stays the same. The costs aren't due to the system, but the overhead. THAT is what needs to be fixed.

Here's how you fix healthcare:

1) Change the cost structure so:

Everything under 5k is out of pocket.
Everything 5-250k is covered by private insurance
Everything 250k+ is paid for by the government, and yes, common-sense rationed. If you're 80 and need a 300k hip replacement, sorry.

Consumers would price shop, so stuff under 5k would plummet in price. The insurance for 5-250k would be relatively cheap, so anyone with a full-time job could afford it.

2) Limit the power of the FDA. The FDA is biased by design to delay the creation of new drugs and raise the costs to produce them. There is tons of economic literature on this.

3) Reduce the requirements to get into the medical profession. No one needs to spend 8 years in college, rack up 100k+ in debt, and several years in residency just to be a general practitioner. There would then be more medical workers and we could pay them less.

Blueskies, you forgot about tort reform. There is no need to have a dozen tests that aren't needed just so the doctor can cover his butt in case of a malpractice lawsuit.

I still stand by the idea that if you want to fix healthcare you MUST fix the willy nilly frivolous malpractice lawsuits. Somewhere we got the idea that if you make it to the hospital and dont live you get to sue, that is SO WRONG!

My only issue with tort reform is the blanket to rewards. They have to minimally cover the costs of those truly hurt by malpractice. Frivolous suits should pay penalties for bringing frivolous suits. I think the hard line on for or against usually forgets those that are actually damaged by bad doctors. You can protect those while still fixing the bad suits.

Or we can do what Texas has done. If you file a stupid lawsuit and lose, you pay all court costs and legal fees of the defendent.

ala that cheerleader incodent from a previous thread?

First, I think I made it clear that I did not care how it was done as long as health care became affordable. This could be through deregulation, more regulation, whatever the means. Second, I agree that our government is pathetic. The difference is I feel business will screw just as many or more people over. I feel it is far more likely that we can replace politicians with civil servant that want to make this country function than make business work for the people.

But civil servants don't produce anything, and rely on tax payer dollars for their paycheck. So each civil servant you add, you require more tax payer contribution. Its not a sustainable system.

correct me here, but arnt police and firemen considered civil servants?