There's a "single payer healthcare" trend these last couple days, and I was absolutely alarmed when I read that under such a system, Doctors and other health providers would not be able to charge a premium for their services beyond the gov't-mandated fee.
Proposal dead on arrival.
That's fucking communism! It's not even socialism. It's specifically spurning the single greatest engine of improvement in the human condition in history: the profit motive. The profit motive actually does serve broader markets better than any other. It needs to be constrained and supplemented in certain situations (and that's where socialism comes in). But banned altogether? Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?
I have no love for the insurance companies. They can go to hell, the lot of them. I have no problem with a "single payer" (and what is this "payor" shit?) that forms a larger pool to prevent "cherry picking" and cut down on administrative costs.
But denying me the ability to use my surplus income to obtain better healthcare than the gov't has decided is "enough" for me? GET THE FUCK OUT OF THIS COUNTRY. Which is what I'll have to do if such a law passes.
Denying Doctors the profit motive to excel over their peers? GOOD FUCKING LUCK getting more skilled doctors out into the field! The smart kids will just become investment bankers instead. And direct most of the capital into non-healthcare sectors.
"Oh, but peeder, they'll be competing to fill their schedules!"
EVERYONE'S SCHEDULE IS ALREADY FULL. How often do you see a doctor twiddling their thumbs waiting for the phone to ring? About as often as you see a cat skeleton in a tree. A doctor in such a situation today is likely a MORON. I have to see a PA or a NP most of the time as it is, and I am paying a premium for primary care today.
To serve the market best, sure, you can guarantee a minimum amount of profit for serving everyone. That will motivate some form of service to be provided everywhere. The profit motive will operate even at that low level.
But thinking that banning private health services that provide personal doctors and premium care is going to somehow provide better care to the poor is nonsense. I would just invest in real estate in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean...any plot of land where a health center could be built, and doctor's residences would be built, will be very lucrative if such a law passes. We'll all be flying south for our health.
Take this communist bullshit and shove it. You're damaging our chances for national health insurance in a form that works.
Update [2006-12-1 17:30:41 by peeder]: Maybe a snippet from an earlier comment of mine will be read and understood by the haranguing crowds:
The best doctors will get more demand. The text [of an earlier diary] says they'll just compete on quality, not price. This reflects a complete lack of comprehension of how economics works. The best in a market will not be able to meet demand. That means they filter demand by increasing the price. The ability to filter demand by raising price leads to profit. The profits so generated are the primary motivation for excellence in this system. Otherwise you are only motivated to generate demand equal to the clearing price for your supply.