Senate Hearing Highlights How Single-Payer Will Ration Health Care

[Kamaji]

Senate Hearing Highlights How Single-Payer Will Ration Health Care

The testimony showed a surprising amount of consensus about ‘free’ health care creating a level of demand for care that doctors and hospitals could not meet.

BY: CHRISTOPHER JACOBS
MAY 16, 2022

One might think that, given our polarized times, a topic like single-payer health care would yield to partisan disputes. Think again.

At a recent Senate Budget Committee hearing on the concept proposed by the committee’s chairman, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, witnesses from the left, right, and center all agreed: Single-payer would lead to unmet demand for care.

They disagreed on the nature and import of this conclusion, but the testimony showed a surprising amount of consensus about “free” health care creating a level of demand for care that doctors and hospitals could not meet all patient requests.

Massive Demand for ‘Free’ Care
Coming from the center, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) summarized its prior analysis of five hypothetical single-payer systems. CBO concluded that in all five cases,

The increase in demand for personal health care would exceed the increase in supply, resulting in greater unmet demand than the amount under current law….  The increase in unmet demand would correspond to increased congestion in the health care system, including delays and foregone care.

This testimony summarized a persistent theme in CBO’s work. Its December 2020 analysis of the five hypothetical single-payer proposals used the word “congestion” to describe single-payer’s impact on the health-care system no fewer than 28 separate times. Some might find “congestion” an overly polite euphemism for waiting lists and rationed care.

Regardless, CBO’s frequent use of the term explains why the budget office admitted it has not conducted a formal analysis of Sanders’ legislation. As the ranking member and then chairman of the Budget Committee, Sanders could have used his seniority to ask for—and receive—a full “score” of his bill years ago. The fact that he has not done so speaks volumes, and suggests Sanders does not want the budget office to quantify exactly how long patients might have to wait for care under his approach.

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Source:  https://thefederalist.com/2022/05/16/senate-hearing-highlights-how-single-payer-will-ration-health-care/

[DefiantMassRINO]

Single Payer Healthcare = Soylent Green

[GtHawk]

Congress, Senate and all their friggin staffers and employees should be required to enroll in the exact same lack of healthcare plan they want to foist on the rest of America, and I damn well mean have to, no buying outside insurance. If they think it's so good for the rest of America than it better be good enough for them! Want to cut some health care dollars? Quit giving free healthcare that's better than many Americans receive to the damn illegals, they shouldn't be getting a damn thing from American taxpayers...period!

[christian]

Corrupt government, promise paradise and great things, seize control, declare shortages and massive increase costs, taxations-spending.  The deniers lockstepper  cheerleaders march, government take haven't we seen this kind of tyrant type rule here and over there (foreign lands)many times before?  Venezuela being a very current one?  Often the biggest bitchers were the ones that helped this kind of government take root.  Like last President Election?
 
 

[Kamaji]

Congress, Senate and all their friggin staffers and employees should be required to enroll in the exact same lack of healthcare plan they want to foist on the rest of America, and I damn well mean have to, no buying outside insurance. If they think it's so good for the rest of America than it better be good enough for them! Want to cut some health care dollars? Quit giving free healthcare that's better than many Americans receive to the damn illegals, they shouldn't be getting a damn thing from American taxpayers...period!

[LMAO]

We are struggling now to care for the pt's that come in the hospital.

The system would collapse with "free" healthcare. Besides, we can't pay for "Medicare for Some."  How the hell would we pay and provide for everyone with "Medicare for All?"

[Hoodat]

We are struggling now to care for the pt's that come in the hospital.

The system would collapse with "free" healthcare. Besides, we can't pay for "Medicare for Some."  How the hell would we pay and provide for everyone with "Medicare for All?"

It wouldn't collapse.  It's just that many things you consider to be "healthcare" now would no longer fall under that definition.  Tear a ligament?  Sorry, that's not covered.  Bleeding ulcer?  Not covered.  Break your arm?  Find a friend who can help set it, and buy some plaster and gauze at the drug store.  Terminal cancer?  Sorry, no resources for that.  You're gonna die anyway, right?  Government i is now the consumer, not you.