How much will universal health care for all cost?

Question

And how will we pay for it?

Answer 1

It will cost WAY more than we can afford, in more ways than just money.
For example, as you probably know there are hypochondriacs who take their kids to the doctor every time they sneeze. This problem will be much worse with universal health care as many millions more will get free health care. Then, people who really do need a doctor wont be able to get one, because the docs office will be full of hypochondriacs.
Even worse will be that there will be even more illegal immigrants entering this country for free healthcare, making a big problem even worse.
Considering that our government has blown it big time with the "universal health care" for Veterans (about 10%) of our population, it will be still worse for 100%of our population. Even now, Vets must wait often for months for an appointment with a doctor. How long would you like to wait for an appointment with a doctor? If universal health care happens you may get an appointment..if you dont die first.

Answer 2

Anyone who claims he knows is wrong. EVERY time anyone has a wild guess (and these are always "the experts" who guess) they are WRONG by a LOT for every kind of expense. Medicare, Medicaid, VA, etc. ALL cost more and deliver less than the "experts" proclaimed it would.

As universal health care is swirling the drain in EVERY country that has it, NO government can predict the costs. To "control" the costs, they ration health care. Not a good thing to do to us. I am going to be admittedly lazy and share much of what I answered before on a similar question because I'm hoping some people will start asking the RIGHT questions instead of accepting the poor quality "news media analysis" of politicians' plans and claims.

Canada has lots of problems and besides the long wait times they have as well they are going broke:

The Fraser Institute (Canadian) was hired to determine what was going on in Alberta and said by 2016 that HALF of the province's budget would go to health care if they keep the current system. By 2030, 100% of the budget would be consumed by health care. (“Canada’s health
system dream turns to nightmare,” 11 June 2004, Dr. Glueck).

Let's also realize that enough Canadian doctors find the system so stressful that WE get 500 of them a year from that small country coming to the US. (Bell, “Step into the single-payer rabbit hole,” April 2001, amsa.org). Also a 2003 survey of Canadian doctors found that nearly half were burnt out and 12% had thoughts of suicide (staffweb.uleth.ca).

The government is thinking about delisting some services (not offering them anymore). Thankfully there has been a proliferation of ILLEGAL for-profit health centers through Canada so Canadians can get care without leaving Canada. This is so needed that the president of the Canadian Medical Association headed such an ILLEGAL facility. They're illegal not because these are not qualified doctors, but because if the government offers a service, then the private sector is not supposed to in Canada. ("Individual Freedom vs. Government Control,” 1 August 2007, nationalreview.com).

Great Britain has the oldest national health system started in 1948. “Staff are being laid off, and deficits are at an alltime high (£1.07bn for 2005-2006)” (Hazel Blears, LabourParty Chair and Minister Without Portfolio, labourachievements. blogspot.com/2006/08/23-investment-innhs...
Alex Smallwood of the British Medical Association was quoted in the
Scotsman as saying: “’Rationing is reduction in choice. Rationing has become a necessary evil. We need to formalise rationing to prevent an unregulated, widening, postcodelottery of care. Government no longer has a choice.’” (Moss,
“NHS rationing is ‘necessary evil,’ says doctors,” 26 June 2007).

In France, 80% of the public have supplemental health insurance through their employers according to their web site (ambafrance-us.org). Private medical care in France is providing more than 50% of the surgeries and more than 60% of cancer case treatment. Vision and dental care are not well covered there. “The public system is facing chronic deficits and recent cost containment policies have not proved very successful.” The government is interested in
having more of the tab picked up by private insurance (Buchmueller & Couffinhall, “Private Health Insurance in France,” 2004, oecd.org).

Yes there are problems in Japan, the Netherlands, and Sweden as well for sure. Universal health care does NOT work. Governments overpromise, jack up taxes, ration medicine, and more.

How to pay for such a system is totally unknown. Americans do not realize how highly taxed we are already. Check out The Tax Foundation's info that looks at how much we have taken from us:
http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxfreedomday/

Furthermore the government is NOT Constitutionally authorized to "provide" health care for us (and the "general welfare clause" does NOT apply because the Founders were VERY clear about what that meant and said it was NOT to give carte blanche to any scheme the government comes up with, even if it's for a "good cause.")

Answer 3

Alright, how's this for an reply, I do not like my taxes going as much as maintain folks who're abusing the procedure. How many folks do you feel want remedy due to the fact they smoke, or drink an excessive amount of, or refuse to consume whatever remotely healthful? Why must I must pay for folks whose ailments are basically the effect of loss of correct self-manipulate? The best of healthcare is lowered due to the fact you'll be able to blame pharmecutical corporations all you desire for making healthcare so highly-priced, however additionally they are at the slicing fringe of treatment. Every leap forward within the final two decades has been from pharmecuitical corporations that spend money on discovering treatments to sicknesses that might on no account be cured earlier than. Medicine is a type of fields that ought to be stuffed with the excellent and brightest due to the fact they're those that comeup with the breakthroughs. Enlisting their aid with possibilities to earn money is the way in which that they do this. In Europe, because of using socialized medication, they have needed to begin uploading medical professionals from the core east and India, and for those who've learn the scoop lately, have had a few horrible outcome.

Answer 4

It depends on the implementation. Right now, we pay a higher per capita amount for health care than any other nation in the world, and we are pretty far down the list in terms of the quality of health care we receive. We pay more, and on the average we get less.

So the answer depends on the implementation. HMOs have been a failure, and every other major country that tried something like that has abandoned it for something else. I guess that's what we get for letting insurance companies write the medical reform legislation (Thanks to Nixon et al): we have some of the most profitable insurance companies, and if you really need health care, they raise your premiums until you cannot afford to carry the insurance or they cancel you or deny treatment.

Answer 5

What strikes me as funny is that all the supporters of universal health care want to use guesses about the cost, instead of using all the information out there that's available from Canada, UK, France, etc, etc about the exact costs.

From each of those countries, you could find exactly how much of the government budgets go towards health care, and how much tax per capita that entails.

Should I surmise that empirical evidence is avoided because it would show it to be an ever-voracious money pit? And why would you want to use a guess when you could have exact figures... hmmm? To a skeptic like me, that causes my BS-meter to peg out!

Answer 6

You do not really expect to get an answer do you ?

I have never seen any proponent of national health care, who was willing to say what it would cost.

You get people who say silly things like, less than the war in iraq cost.

Well iraq cost about 100 billion a year.

Thats $333.00 per person.

Now do they really think that we can provide universial health care for $333.00 per person ?

Or a 10% increase in income tax's, well since income tax's and corporate taxs only generated 1.4 trillion dollars last year.

A 10% increase would bring in an additional 140 billion, again, thats just $466.00 per person. Obiviously that will not pay for universial health care.

Universial health care will cost about 1 trillion a year, minimum.

The entire federal budget last year, was 2.4 trillion.

So obiviously, we would need massive amounts of new revenue, to afford to spoend 1 trillion a year on health care.

I trillion equals $3,300 per person, thats far less than the $5,000 per person we currently spend on medicare.

And medicare hardly covers anything, thats why they all have to buy additional insurance to make up the difference.

Answer 7

To answer your question;

In 2005 (the latest year data are available), total national health expenditures rose 6.9 percent -- two times the rate of inflation (1). Total spending was $2 TRILLION in 2005, or $6,700 per person (1). Total health care spending represented 16 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml

That's a mighty big premium per person...........some $560.00 per month per person in your family.

How will we pay for it, the left says we should tax those big companies till they pack up and leave the US, or go bankrupt. After that, who knows.

Answer 8

you will pay for it(lots) and the rest of the bozos that buy into this fantasy.the gov. has no money,other than what they rip off from the tax payers.I personally,and I'm sure others do not want to pay for your health care or anyone else......get it !

Answer 9

That would be a lie I could LIVE with (sorry), the LIES we were told about Iraq: WMD's, thier OIL revenues would pay for the occupation, we'd be outa there in 6 months, we'd build abetter iRAQ, they'd greet us with sweets and flowers, etc
At least with Universal Health Care americans wont be devastated in the event of catostrophic illness or accident, etc....

What is it with you DUPES that they have you sooo convinced that the "commons" for ALL OF US are a bad thing!!??

Answer 10

About 5x what any of its supporters will ever admit.

And we will pay for it by cutting back on presciptions, medical coverage, the number of Doctors (they will be for all practical purposes gov employees), what is classied as a necessary test or surgery, building new hospitals, new drug developement (no one else will want to do it as there will be no money in it), and the number of visits to a medical facility per year, drastically cutting the time allowed in hospital for recovery, etc, etc.