Re: single payer costs

pacman2081@xxxxxxxxx wrote: 
At one level I do not dispute Mike's analysis. The only issue is
monopolies do not provide good service. They lack incentive to
innovate.

Hi again, The USA is definitely the greatest innovator in the medical arena, but there still is innovation in country's with more egalitarian health systems. The Canadian system (it's not "socialized medicine" providers of care are private entities), for instance, will purchase innovative products from private businesses (in Canada and elsewhere). But they must be shown to provide significant medical benefit or make things operate more efficiently for doctors and hospitals. BTW, these decisions are made by clinicians and are based on evidence from peer reviewed medical research. Decisions are not made by politicians who may or may not have been bought off by corporations.

What is the incentive for an overweight person to work his/her tail off
and bring the weight to normal levels ?

The country's that have universal coverage seem to be healthier so I don't know if that is an issue. It might be lifestyle. I live in Vancouver, Canada and visit Washington State (one of the healthier states in the USA) a few times a year and I'm astonished at how large some people are. I'm equally astonished at the huge servings given by restaurants and how cheap food is at restaurants and grocery stores. Combine that with a sedentary lifestyle, fewer and fewer public schools offering gym classes, and more junk food in the cafeteria and vending machines and you have a prescription for disaster.

Cheers,
Mike
.