posted by iclfan2
That is their plan. Their reimbursments will go down. How will Drs and hospitals stay in business you ask? Good question
That's what medicare does. But that's why they always talk about drugs and insurance - because those are "big, greedy" companies. There's no cost savings in insurance - many said that back during the Obamacare debates and most people were like "oh, you must work for Big Pharma".
Maybe we can bend that cost curve without driving doctors and hospitals out of business. But structurally those costs are MUCH higher than Europe - doctors make 3-5X less there, and hospital stays may be as much as 10X less. Yes, if you look at outcomes, they get a better return on their medical dollar. But simply paying less won't lower costs.
I think what will happen is a bifurcation. "Medicare for all" will be a minimal amount of basic coverage. But the best doctors will have a private practice (this is already happening) or there will be some form of supplemental insurance or cash kicker. So, once again, only the more well to do will be able to afford the best quality treatment.
Most people who can afford it get supplemental insurance with their Medicare. "Medicare for all" is going to have tens of millions of people being forced to accept lesser coverage and losing their doctors because they won't have money left for supplemental coverage after paying higher taxes to help insure all the illegals.
