Panda Bear: “In fact, everything about ‘Single Payer’ is going to make medical care an even scarcer commodity. Just an increase in demand, that is, giving the 47-million uninsured sudden and equal access with no possibility of increasing the supply of medical care, by itself will lead to a relative scarcity. That’s just simple math.”
Exactly
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The problem with this particular scare tactics is that you physicians have already used the “shortage of healthcare” line, for virtually every other thing that you guys want, including continuing on our current healthcare delivery system. You’re the profession that cried wolf.
How does this increase demand? Do these alleged 47M not require health care now? Surely if the party line that they’re all rolling into emergency rooms in worse states than if they’d had preventive care, then by that logic demand should go down as these folks will be healthier once they have magical access to doctors they never had before.
Of course, giving people insurance is not the same as giving them access. It just means giving them insurance. Some portion must be self pay and happy to be so. They won’t add demand. Some portion must be eligible for low income coverage already, they won’t increase demand. Some portion must be young, healthy workers who don’t want health insurance, they won’t increase demand. Some portion must be receiving uncompensated care now, they won’t increase demand.
As for the rest, maybe the additional business will fill those empty hospital beds that don’t exist.
Insurance != Access.
Insurance == Insurance.
Yes, but so what? I would trade an absolute increase in scarcity for an absolute decline in inequality, if things were that simple.
Sorry Alexa but that ain’t gonna happen. Try your equality theory in Massachusetts. See when, or if, you can see a new PCP with your new taxpayer subsidized but low paying health insurance. You’ll be getting care in the ER just like before unless the supply and demand problem is addressed. That means addressing the cost issue.
Something that I have not heard addressed with Universal Healthcare coverage is this. Generally people are getting emergency care and care for serious illness but for other elective items they get what they can afford. What happens with universal care when everyone decides I need my knee scope, my elective sinus surgery, this benign cyst removed? What exactly is Universal Healthcare going to provide? Lets say that it is going to mandate a physcial exam and routine bloodwork on everyone. Who is going to do all of this? If you want to see a shortage of healthcare, it will come out in a flash. If people want to push universal healthcare, lets see the list of what it will and will not cover. Until then Universal coverage means nothing.