Question, do you think that government can provide $450 dollars worth of care without paying $450 dollars? Of course not. It does not cost them less than it costs you.
So where is that $450 dollars going to come from? You. You are going to pay in taxes, what it costs you for care, plus some. Why plus some? Two reasons.
When companies bargain for payment rates, since they are not arguing with a customer, but with government, they are going to bargain for the highest possible payment. Just look at military contracts. Further, they are going to lobby congress as hard as possible for the highest possible rate. Again, look at military contracts.
Second, by taxing everyone, running it through the IRS, and then through whatever agency is set to run health care, and then through hospitals and other systems, each level has to take a cut. And Government is notoriously inefficient here.
So it's still going to cost you the same amount and then some.
You seem to think the job of insurance is to reduce the cost of health care to you. That is not true. Some also seem to think they'll pay less if government runs the system. That is not true either.
I'm sorry you got duped into canceling your insurance. That is too bad. However, sometimes we don't like the current system so much, we blind ourselves into thinking another system is automatically better. Not a good plan.
For a moment let me explain the difference between here in Canada, that would relate to how much you spend for diabetic condition. In Canada, you would pay 12% sales tax on everything you buy, then pay a additional taxes on specific goods like home heating oil, and auto petrol taxes (Canadians are paying $3.75 for gas right now, most of which is taxes), plus you would pay your 15-29% income tax, your social insurance tax, your employment insurance tax, your worker compensation tax, your federal property tax, your 50% capital gains tax, and finally, finally... your health insurance tax. Which doesn't include your health insurance premiums.
Yes, you must pay a tax, and a premium, both of which don't cover the cost, so you also are paying income taxes for it. This is why Canada's "Tax Freedom Day" the day on which you officially are working to earn your own money, instead of just working to pay taxes, is June 14th. Whereas in the US it's April 13th.
Did you know that Canada's standard of living is lower there, than it is here? You don't think it could be for all those taxes they have to pay that we do not? The lowest income tax bracket still pays roughly 35% of their income in taxes.
So back to health care. You want health care reform because you had the health insurance company screwed over charging you $350 in premiums for $450 in services every month. Logically they wanted you off their plan because it was bad for for their business. So they of course did whatever they could to get you off their plan.
You bought the idea you could pay a lower premium from your employer, and canceled your existing policy. Which is what they wanted. Of course the way it works for the employer is, you cost much more than your paying, so that drives up premium costs for everyone else in your pool. Good for you, bad for everyone else. Then they all complain about health care costs going up when they are not sick, and want government to reform health care too.
So everyone is trying to get health care without paying the cost. But it doesn't work that way. Either the cost gets paid, from taxes, or premiums, or from direct purchase, or the quality of care suffers. Doctors do not work for free, and Canada is finding this out. Why do you think Doctors are refusing medicare patients? Because everyone thought everyone else was going to pay their bills, but instead no one paid the bills and the doctors are refusing to work. Shocking how that works.
