Foxfyre wrote:should the government institute a single payer system, what power does the govenrment then have over what health care will be available to whom?
None of the leading two Democratic candidates is proposing a single-payer system. And quite obviously, neither does any of the Republican candidates. If you like the healthcare plan you're in, you can just stay in it! And that is true no matter who gets elected on November 20. How are the merits of a single payer system relevant to this election?
Foxfyre wrote:Both do not provide coverage for treatment of prostate cancer for persons age 65 or older on the theory that something else will kill those folks before the cancer gets them.
This bold statement does not survive
a Google search on "medicare prostate cancer". The reality is that Medicare does pay for operations, though it does not pay for radiation therapy. Several of the sources are very critical of this policy, and they may well be right. Maybe medicare should pay for prostate cancer therapy. But there's a big difference between that claim and yours that America's universal healthcare systems "do not provide treatment of prostate cancer."
Foxfyre wrote: If we had not had our own private insurance, that would mean that my husband would now in all likelihood be dead or suffering a horrible impending death. As it is, he is alive, well, cancer free, and looking forward to many more healthy years to come.
That's fine! You like your private plan. Who's keeping you from staying in it? Certainly not Clinton's and Obama's plans for universal healthcare.
Foxfyre wrote:Will the system be as it is in some countries that doctors are not allowed to accept private insurance or provide care that is not government approved?
No it won't. Don't take my word for it -- go read the plans.
Foxfyre wrote:I think these are valid questions to consider before saying that single payer, mandated by the government, is the only reasonable option on the table.
You're absolutely right. I'll consider them as soon as a leading Democrat proposes such a plan. I don't see myself considering it anytime soon because -- did I mention this? -- all
the Democratic plans let you stay in your private policy if you like it!