a question for those who are willing to overlook my ignorance

[Bertha Venation]

In the health care debate: what is single payer?

Thank you.

[Robb]

1. Always a good start:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-payer_health_care

"Single-payer health insurance collects all medical fees and then pays for all services through a single government (or government-related) source. In wealthy nations, this kind of publicly-managed health insurance is typically extended to all citizens and legal residents." :hi:

[Occam Bandage]

2. Here.

http://tinyurl.com/yknfbpp">Single Payer

[NMDemDist2]

3. single payer is when the gov'nment pays for ALL healthcare, thereby

having the ability to contract and negotiate prices from doctors and hospitals.

pretty much it cuts out the middle man insurance companies.

[Captain Hilts]

4. It's a very good question. It is, basically, what the US military used to have and what Ontario now

has.

The military system has gotten more complicated, but it is, essentially, single payer for the reasons stated above.

You have no insurance company acting as a middleman.

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. All the above, and, it is supported by taxes, of course.

Instead of buying a premium from private insurance (which has to cover not only medical bills, but also advertising campaigns, executive bonuses and the CEO's daughter's 5 million dollar wedding) you pay a tax - much smaller than what you would pay for a premium - just as you do for FICA and Medicare today.

Will your taxes go up? Yes. But as your employer is not paying an insurance company what he should be paying you as his 'share' of your insurance, and you are not paying for health insurance your income would increase well beyond the cost of the extra taxes. Simply put, INSTEAD of paying $1000 to private insurance you pay an additional $650 in taxes - profit to you, $350 plus the security of not having claims denied or losing the insurance if you lose your job.

And don't feel ignorant about not knowing - the insurance companies and the media and much of the political establishment have worked for years to keep people from knowing about single-payer, and the fact that it is successful in every major industrial nation on earth (except us, of course).

[Winterblues]

7. Assuming the business gives the employees the excess money

Most businesses would probably pass on a little but put the majority either back into the business or in the owners pocket...Even so the result would be everyone paying less and the business being more competetive in the Global market place..

[dysfunctional press]

6. a term that most of the people in the country don't really understand.

it means that there is only one entity that pays ALL of the medical bills- in this case, the u.s. government. the money to do so would come from taxes.