How can we afford universal health care?

Question

Here is what the government funded health care programs in one state cost state hospitals. How can the hospitals stay open if we have a nationwide universal health care plan like this?

Wisconsin:
Shortfalls from government programs continued to increase in 2006. On average, the Medicare Program paid hospitals only 77 percent of the cost of providing care to beneficiaries, while Medicaid paid even less at 48 percent of cost. That translates into over $1.6 billion of hospital patient care costs not funded by government programs that were shifted to others—also known as the “hidden health care tax.”

Uncompensated care—a combination of unreimbursed care provided to charity patients and bad debts for those patients able to pay but who fail to pay for services—totaled $614 million, increasing by $65 million (12 percent) over 2005, with charity care representing the larger increase of 27 percent, or $43 million. Bad debts accounted for $22 million of the increase. Contrary to some claims, a small percentage of charges are actually ever collected from those without insurance. These unpaid bills are also part of what hospitals must pass on to commercial payers.

“Wisconsin hospitals continue to provide high quality, cost-effective care,” said WHA Senior Vice President George Quinn. “But unfunded patient care expenses—government program payment shortfalls and uncompensated bad debts and charity care—continue to increase and now amount to over 20 percent of the hospital bill for a patient with commercial insurance.”

AARON; Have you always been a little sissy coward or just today.

OREGON, annual cost to hospitals in Oregon for Medicare and Medicaid are in excess of 350 million per year.
http://www.oahhs.org/news/lewin/lewin_study_final.pdf

The statement is reimbursment compared to cost of care, not billable amount.

Answer 1

Yes - if we can afford a zillion-dollar war, we can afford universal health care.

Answer 2

The United States, to its shame, has some 45 million people without health insurance and many more millions who have poor coverage. Although the president has blithely said that these people can always get treatment in an emergency room, many studies have shown that people without insurance postpone treatment until a minor illness becomes worse, harming their own health and imposing greater costs.


Health care coverage is already subsidized heavily by federal, state, and local taxes. In fact, fully 64% of health care spending is already from taxes. Employers would pay a small payroll tax, but this tax would be instead of paying health care premiums like most employers pay now. Most employers that currently offer health insurance would actually save money. Small businesses will no longer be at a disadvantage in obtaining good health coverage for their employees and thus competing for the best employees.

Virtually all other industrialized, capitalist countries have some sort of large-scale bulk-purchasing program. It's just like Wal-Mart using its purchasing power to buy in bulk, and provide cheap goods to customers. In fact, the reason many people are buying drugs from Canada is because they're much cheaper there. Insurance companies do this all the time--buy drugs for all of their members, and get cheaper prices, so would it really be that different to have the government buy for everyone? The VA and the Department of Defense already do this, but the current Medicare legislation does not allow the government to do so.

In single-payer, doctors and hospitals are still privately owned and run. This is not socialized medicine.

Sure, there are hoops to jump through in Medicare, and issues that need to be addressed, but on a whole, Medicare is an extremely efficient health system. (By efficient, I mean it spends very little money on administration of the program, and most of its money going toward health care.) Medicare spends about 2-3% of every dollar on health care administration, while most HMOs spend around 15%--some even high as 30%. That's 30 cents of every dollar not going toward health care.

Answer 3

I noticed, not a single person answered your question.

No one even mentioned what the cost of universial health care would be.

They all must think the money would come from the universial health care tree or something, maybe a health care fairy will leave the money under their beds.

They say, well stop the war.

Except the cost of the war, wouldn't fund universial health care. The war has cost about 100 billion dollars a year.

You really think 100 billion a year, would fund universial health care ? Thats $21.00 for each of the 47 million without health insurance. DUH HUH !!!!

And to the 47 million without health insurance, 16 million of them, are in the US illegally.

Do you really care if illegal aliens have health insurance ?

So ive had my rant, now i'll provide some facts.

Universial health care, would cost about 1.5 trillion dollars every year.

Thats spending the exact same per citizen, as we spend on people with medicare.

in case you didn't know it, in 2006, the US government had 2.6 trillion in revenue, and 800 billion of that was social security, which shouldn't be used.

So you want to fund a 1.5 trillion dollar program, when the government has 1.8 trillion dollars to spend.

Which means new tax's, big time new tax's.

Forget the tax cuts for the rich, thats not a drop in the bucket compared to whats needed.

The US government currently spends about 580 billion on health care, thats medicare, medicaid and VA.

So we would need 920 billion dollars in new tax revenue.

To get 920 billion in revenue from income and corporate tax's, would require a 69% increase in the current tax rates, thats for everyone.

If you paid $3,000 in tax's last year, it would mean you would have to pay $5,000 afterwards.

A person making $30,000, would see their tax bill go up $2,800 dollars per year.

The othewr way to pay for it, would be a new payroll tax of about 7.5% along with a small income tax increase.

So the cost would be borne by business.

They would then pay a payroll tax of 14.5% on employees earnings, before they had to pay corporate tax's.

That would help large business's that already provide health insurance, but it would hurt small business's badly.

Then you have the other issues.

Under a single payer system, the government owns all the hospitals, labs and clinics.

So we would have to come up with more money to purchase the thousands of for profit hospitals, labs and clinics in america.

To many people don't take the time to think about the issue, they just skim the high lights and think it's someone elses job to figure out what it would cost.

Answer 4

It seems to me that the lowest hanging fruit in the cost of providing medical care is the exorbitant cost of malpractice insurance. If the government could place some reasonable limits on settlements, the cost of this insurance to doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and consequently patients, would drop.

I am in no way condoning irresponsible medical care. Lawsuits are a necessary check and balance in the system. But I feel that the amount and frequency of these settlements is now hurting the greater good.

I don't think that this will eliminate the need to increase tax revenues to fund this care. Any country with universal health care has demonstrated that this is a costly endeavor. But it would help to reduce the burden on taxpayers.

Answer 5

First of all increase taxes for the wealthy instead of decreasing them. Then stop spending 3 billion a week in Iraq. Get out of debt and save billions a year from interest. Stop giving hand outs to oil companies and big business. Regulate the amount a hospital can charge (I know they have to make money but when an emergency appendix removal can be over $12000 dollars well...). Teach the importance of preventative things such as diet, weight control etc. and the importance of early diagnosis. It is far cheaper to treat someone who is in the first year of cancer and you have a much higher success rate. If we pay twice what other countries do in health costs and have worse health and shorter lives then how can we afford not to do anything other than what we do right now?

Answer 6

I understand the opposition, however, what's happening now is worse. The HOW is in the changes that would have to occur in order to make it happen. The US would have to stop spending money overseas and start spending it here. Medical care would have to be taken off the market and health care workers paid comparably to other white collar college educated workers rather than surgeons being comparable to actors and athletes (also ridiculous by the way). They'd have to cut off all non citizens. Sad, but true. Most of the medicaid costs you're whining about is to fund the birth of foreigners babies in our country. We don't wait years for medical care just because we put it off. We wait in a type of line behind the majority who are immigrants including illegals. Saying that things are run poorly now so we'd better not fix it is like saying 2 wrongs make a right.

Answer 7

Well, I would say two things to this report. First, this report does not refer to a state health care system: Medicare is a system that is administered by the federal government through the states. Second, in states with real state-wide health care systems (e.g., Oregon), the financial picture is a bit different.

Cheers.

ADDITIONAL INFO:

Yes, 350 million dollars. But for a system that insures close to 4 million people. That comes out to approximately 87 dollars per year per person. Can you tell me what your monthly premiums were, assuming you have health insurance?

Cheers.

Answer 8

By making it a requirement, unless you are disabled, if you get universal health care, you need to have a job and pay taxes. Not only are tax payers having to pay high taxes on what we make, we also are paying higher medical costs because of government Medicaid

Stop getting into wars with other countries over oil. We need to develop ways for energy that is not reliant on oil. All cars and trucks are to get the maximum allowed mileage per gallon of fuel.

Our veterans are having a very difficult time getting quality health care. They should be guaranteed the best health care the government care give them.

Universal health care will be another bullet the tax payer is going to have to bite by paying higher taxes for everyone to get it. Lazy people need to work and help pay for health care. Nothing is free. Someone ends up paying.

Vote every government official out that is for illegal aliens and for all tax payers to have to foot the bill for universal health care for dead beats.

I personally would like the rich to be taxed as much as the single person and working Joe.

Answer 9

You've almost answered your own question. Realize that some of the figures quoted by hospital organizations are charges, not costs, in the land of the $4 Tylenol pill. But the main thrust is that hospitals survive on cost-shifting. We can't afford to give everything to everybody, of course, but spending more on immunizations saves money overall. Spending public funds on blood pressure medications makes more sense than having a hypertensive stroke patient placed in a nursing home and on Medicaid after the event. Some basic universal coverage is in the best interest of everybody, if only we could agree on what level that would be.

Answer 10

nicely right here contained in the united kingdom we've unfastened conventional well-being care, and we are at the instant rediculously in debt, with just about each scientific institution contained in the rustic loosing greater money than the government can throw at it. it may rely the way it replaced into controlled. the united kingdom's well-being gadget is a shame and a multitude, and the government can no longer see that purely throwing money at something won't replace the essential flaws it has. yet while the U. S. replaced into set up a gadget that labored nicely, then it can be a reliable thought.

Answer 11

If we can throw away money in Iraq we can afford socialized medicine. Every other industrialized country manages to pay for it, we can find a way too. I have health insurance, but pay 600 a month, and the coverage is awful. All the others are 800 and up in my state.