Survey of intergenerational opinions on socialized medicine/single payer/'medicare for all'

[Med Ed]

So I know that this thread is a bit old, but I've recently been getting into this subject. More specifically, I've been getting into economics, it's one of the things I like to read when I don't spend all day doing MCAT prep.

Before I continue, I'd just like to say that I do believe healthcare should be considered a right and that it still amazes me that the US doesn't guarantee better access to care, like most other big boy nations.

A lot of people support single payer, but the US currently has a debt of 30 trillion dollars. Some people say that single payer would help us save money, but doesn't that depend on the amount of money the government would be willing to spend on salaries and other aspects of running a healthcare system? I mean, if the prices and salaries all stay the same, isn't it just a government 'takeover' without any reforms, which would basically cost taxpayers about 17% of our GDP? Also, if more people will be using the healthcare system with single payer, wouldn't costs explode and get us into unimaginable levels of debt?

So I guess my questions are as follows:
- Do people who claim that single payer will be cheaper assume that the government will cap prices for all treatments/visits/operations at rates much lower than private insurance?
- Do people who claim that single payer will be cheaper assume the government will negotiate lower prices for drugs?
- Do you guys believe you can still have a universal system by heavily regulating private insurance more on a federal level and capping prices on a federal level without enacting government single payer?
- Are there any systems that you guys think the US should look to in order to reform the current system or avoid looking into?

A single payer system would (theoretically) save money by reducing the redundancy of having multiple payers (i.e. insurance companies). UnitedHealth Group, Anthem, Centene, Humana, etc. all run parallel operations, which is inherently inefficient. Hospitals and physicians also spend a lot of time and effort navigating the system of multiple payers and finding ways to mitigate uncompensated care.

I suspect you are conflating single payer (which transfers money from government to providers and healthcare facilities for services provided) with a real socialization of healthcare delivery, where the government would directly employ providers and own the healthcare facilities. Those are two very different prospects.

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[gyngyn]

As OP is no longer with us, closing.