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Originally Posted by GrantDawg
I agree and disagree. I think that the Sanders and company plan may be too extreme (government mandated single payer), but I think the best moderate plans allow anyone to join medicare. Even in countries that provide free healthcare, people still have private insurance. A public option will force private companies to compete with better coverage at more affordable rates. The other big necessity is allowing medicare to negotiate the cost of medicine. The bloat in our system is the runway cost drugs hand in hand with the huge profits being sucked out of the system by insurers. Cutting those cost substantially would make a big dent in the problems in the system.
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Isn't this basically what the ACA was? I don't have a problem with a government run "safety net" insurance group for lower income or people without coverage (basically expand medicare). I just want to make sure it doesn't cause employers to stop covering their employees. Prescription drug cost is a big issue, but you don't need a government plan to cap prices (if that's the solution). The government currently does this for industries like energy that have private companies involved. Congress could vote to cap drug prices (or have them match Europe prices) tomorrow without a single payer. They just wouldn't do that because of the drug companies put so much money into their candidacy.