LogFAQs > #936607713

He literally said Single Payer wouldnt help, we need to have the Federal government give hospitals more money.

Its incoherent at worst, straight up contradictory at best.

RaidenGarai posted...

Doctors and hospitals frequently lose money on Medicare patients because the reimbursement rates are so low. Taking away the reimbursement rates from insurers takes away their revenue stream. Private practice doctors and smaller hospitals can't keep their doors open in that case, and when they're shut down they can't help anybody. A "consistent funding stream that doesn't rely on for-profit insurers" means nothing when the hospital is losing money every time somebody walks in the door, because medicare doesn't pay them enough.

Setting aside that this is completely irrelevant to the discussion (how Joes plan would fix our current problems over Single Payer), this just isnt true.

Yes, Medicare pays 85 cents on the dollar for care compared to private insurance, but our healthcare prices are massively inflated, the prices NEED to come down.

So your next thought is, well if hospitals are running on a shoestring budget, how will they stay afloat if their income is slashed by 15%? Well you have to consider what Medicare for All would actually do to how a hospital is run. You wouldnt need to pay people to negotiate with insurance companies, or to verify/collect on peoples insurance, or to track down people who cant pay, and plenty more.

Additionally, all those people who receive care that provide you with $0 because they cant afford care would no longer be skipping out on the bill because theyd be covered!

Smaller rural hospitals would massively benefit from lower operating costs and the guarantee that all patients can pay.


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Phantom Dust.
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