“…There have been at least five strikes called against single payer (SP)…”
Strike #1: Italy’s price controls
“…Drugs that used to cost people $300/month were suddenly and artificially priced at $5-10/month.”
“…As a result of government price controls, Italy now must buy its pharmaceuticals from elsewhere, pay what is charged, and then subsidize their patient population for the difference between their artificially low consumer price and the true, market-based cost. This may seem affordable to the individual, but that money must come from somewhere, and eventually “somewhere” means the Italian people…”
Strike #2: Avoidable deaths in Canada
“…The budget — not patients’ medical needs — drives the availability of medical care in Canada…”
Strike #3: Medical rationing at the NHS
“…Great Britain has a single-payer system, called the National Health Service (NHS)… the NHS rations medical care by denying authorization for care…”
“Great Britain’s single payer system employs death-by-budget.”
Strike #4: VA system in the U.S.
“…Washington controls both supply and demand.”
“The result is too few care providers to serve our veterans,… not enough prosthetic limbs or complex drug therapies; and too few burn beds as well as operating rooms.”
“…It does not fix the root cause, which is the single-payer approach…”
Strike #5: Vermont’s single payer
“…In the 2012 gubernatorial election there, the major issue was single-payer healthcare . Peter Shumlin, the Democrat candidate, vowed to “make it happen.” …”
“On December 17, 2014, Governor Shumlin announced that he was cancelling Green Mountain Healthcare. It was simply too expensive and would have imposed crushing new taxes on the citizens of Vermont…”
Next Strike: Medical rationing coming soon to the U.S.
“…The next pitch will come from ACA’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB)…IPAB was based on England’s NICE. We know that NICE is the medical rationing arm of the NHS…”
“In single payer systems, the budget wins every time over the welfare of patients.”
“…Single payer is a proven failure…”
“…It [Vermont] tried single payer and found that it doesn’t work…”
“It is crystal clear that single-payer healthcare systems provide neither affordable nor timely health care to the people they serve. Single payer is out!”
Five Strikes Against Single-payer Healthcare
Dr. Deane Waldman MD
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2014/12/five_strikes_against_singlepayer_healthcare.html