I was astonished to read in the Herald’s Sunday, March 24th issue that Malcolm Berko wholeheartedly endorsed Medicare for all. I have read every one of his columns for almost two decades. His recommendations for stocks are worth reading. Some are pyrite and some are gold. He usually gets his advice from others, but when it is his it’s conservative. That’s why I was shocked that he wanted to destroy the healthcare companies he had pushed.
Berko proposes switching to a medical system Canada, France, and Denmark have had for decades. The majority of Americans have indicated in polls they think we need to switch from our current system to one which provides universal access to all. The motto which more people are thinking is “Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.”
Will it happen – no! Why, because the healthcare and insurance lobbies will spend millions on campaigns and “incentives” to people in Congress and Senate. Doing away with private healthcare insurance will have a huge impact on the economy and the world’s most expensive healthcare system.
The proposed system would do away with co-pays and deductibles. Patients would be able to go to any doctor in the public plan. A few doctors would set up a practice outside of the single payer and find a clinic that is not involved in it. In Canada, a few practices and clinics have gone that way on a concierge basis. The private plans might use an insurance plan to allay catastrophic costs.
To answer the question of why Canadians come to the United States for medical care is easy to answer. Notice they go to Florida in the winter or cross the border for childbirth getting dual citizenship. Our friends in Canada, Australia, Germany, and Norway say they might be in a queue for non-emergency and elective surgery and tests, but immediate help for emergencies.
Berko’s plan would eliminate $900,000,000 in premiums and put over 700,000 people out of work in the five companies he cited. In addition the many office buildings they use would become vacant. Some of the people and buildings might be picked up in the new plan.
Several years ago I saw a “60 Minutes” episode on the Canadian plan. A hospital administrator showed a huge room which had housed over two hundred employees coding and calling insurance companies. Now he had only two people doing the work. My doctor clients once said their billing and collecting costs ran about 30% of revenue.
It is possible healthcare costs may actually go down. Drug companies would have to cut costs so we pay the same as the other industrialized countries. Wouldn’t it be nice for everyone to have access to healthcare with a reasonable tax increase with no premiums, co-pays, or deductions?
Commentary About the Blue Marble 