[bendauphinee]

The “easy” solution is to try and remove profit as much as possible from the equation. Pretty much every other high GDP country in the world has single payer healthcare.

Guess how many people get told their anaesthesia won’t be covered for their full surgery. That shouldn’t even be a question, and yet the US system makes it one.

[Thorrez]

Two people I know who moved to the US from countries with single payer healthcare said that in their previous countries they would have to wait a long time for certain operations, but in the US can get them almost immediately.

[bendauphinee]

Depends on criticality. Yes, the US beats Canada for example on wait time in a lot of cases, however, as a Canadian I can walk into a ER and not have a co-pay.

I had my appendix out a few years ago, I walked into the ER at 2PM, had the surgery done by midnight, and was able to be discharged by 9AM the next day. The only cost was my parking, because I drove myself over. Meanwhile, I've also had friends in the US who were clearly quite ill, and made the conscious decision to not go to the ER because it would have cost them hundreds of dollars.

It's all a balance, but I'm happier with my single pay system, because for the most part, health decisions aren't at the whim of my bank balance being too low. I personally wouldn't be as disappointed in the US system, if the reason someone can get a surgery immediately didn't balance out with something like UnitedHealthcare's 32% rejection rate, because someone wanted a $10MM / yr salary or a $40MM yacht.

[harimau777]

From what I understand, wait time can certainly be an issue with single payer healthcare. However, there's people in the US who have effectively infinite wait time because they can't afford treatment at all.

[contagiousflow]

Some problems in those countries are also caused by for profit healthcare existing in America. The shortage of doctors in Canada is not helped by the appeal of making much more money down south.

Not to mention Canadian expats are generally the ones who would be able to afford the American healthcare costs.

[wqaatwt]

Dutch and Swiss healthcare systems are entirely private (more so than in the US since there are no Medicare or Medicaid equivalents) yet they are highly regulated and profits are limited.

Why can’t the US just copy paste them? It’s not like single payer is the only option..

[bgnn]

Waiting time increases with accessibility and aging population. Most developed countries with universal healthcare amd the hospitals are full with elderly. The developing countries are often much better due to younger population. Places like Turkey are incredibly accessible and cheap compared to the develped countries.

[Ajedi32]

When you remove profit from the equation, you also remove the incentive to increase supply. That's fundamentally what profit is: a reward for fulfilling the needs of consumers. If you can fulfill those needs better or more efficiently or at a larger scale than your competitors, you get more profit.

[titusjohnson]

    When you remove profit from the equation, you also remove the incentive to increase supply.

Uhhh, what? What kind of wongo bongo thinking is this?

[ChadNauseam]

> Pretty much every other high GDP country in the world has single payer healthcare.

This is just completely not true. Take France and Germany for example.

> Guess how many people get told their anaesthesia won’t be covered for their full surgery. That shouldn’t even be a question, and yet the US system makes it one.

So anesthesiologists should be able to ask for any amount their heart desires and the insurance is the bad guy if they don’t want to pay it? Anesthesiologists have a profit motive too, you know.

[bendauphinee]

> All French citizens are required to have health insurance, and there are three main health insurance funds. The funds are non-profit and negotiate with the state on healthcare funding.

> Does Germany have free public healthcare? Yes, all Germans and legal residents of Germany are entitled to free “medically necessary” public healthcare, which is funded by social security contributions. However, citizens must still have either state or private health insurance, covering at least hospital and outpatient medical treatment and pregnancy.

[ceejayoz]

> So anesthesiologists should be able to ask for any amount their heart desires and the insurance is the bad guy if they don’t want to pay it?

Obviously not; if they're billing 72 hours a day, that's fraud.

If my procedure goes long because of a complication, I'd still prefer they not wake me up mid-procedure for a credit card and signature.

[SideQuark]

And pretty much every one of those countries also has widely used private insurance because the public one most definitely has price caps, longer waits, and lesser service.

No system could afford to spend unlimited amounts for anyone wanting it. You get triaged since resources are not infinite.

Pick your favorite system, say the UK, and google UK healthcare rationing to find state policy on what limits people face.

[dgroshev]

Any medical system inevitably has limits of what they can spend per patient. Do you prefer the limit to be set and enforced by the government that is amenable to political process, or anonymous profit-seeking insurance company board members, like in the sibling comment case https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42375998 ?