Single Payer Healthcare

Ex-president (I love saying that) Obama's and most Democrat's stated objective with Obamacare was to push this country's healthcare system toward a single-payer one ... much like in the United Kingdom, Canada and the EU. Many Americans gut instinct is to resist this tilt toward Socialism. However, the sinister design of Obamacare makes reversing this track very difficult ... as we are now seeing. For the moment, let us suppose that the Bernie Sanders liberals get their way and America is forced into a single-payer system. What would likely be the consequences of such a development? Let me offer a few:

- The healthcare insurance industry will be devastated. However, it won't disappear. Most countries that have single-payer systems also have private insurance or concierge medical options for those who can afford it to supplement the government-run operations. This is to get faster and higher quality treatment for society's elite. So instead of being progressive, single-payer healthcare is often quite regressive.

- Single-payer healthcare means that the government not only pays for most healthcare ... but it also manages the means of delivery ... with the resulting decline in quality and the increase in treatment delays (witness the VA). Often bureaucrats are making treatment decisions instead of an interplay between doctors and patients. There is good reason why healthcare in the United States costs more than anywhere else. It is of much higher quality. And that is why many from around the world flock to our medical centers when their lives are on the line.

- Single-payer healthcare means that the government will negotiate down drug costs. This will, by definition, reduce the profitability of the pharmaceutical companies and put the squeeze on their research spending. This of course means fewer and slower drug innovations.

- It is quite likely that a single-payer system will make becoming a doctor, nurse, etc. a less lucrative profession ... meaning fewer of our best and brightest will pursue these jobs in the future ... and more existing ones will be retiring early. This is likely to cause stress in the provider community.

- Another reason for high healthcare costs in the United States is the insertion of the insurance company middlemen between the patient and the doctor. Single payer healthcare doesn't eliminate this middleman. It just substitutes the public sector for the private sector ... and when in history has this worked out to be more economically efficient?

- Single-payer healthcare will likely be the grease to propel the United States away from our tradition of individual energy and independence ... toward a more Venezuela-type Socialism. Not a happy consequence for our rosy future.

Can the Republicans in the Senate rescue our healthcare system from the sad fates outlined above? Only if patriotism overcomes politics ... and when was the last time that happened?