On Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:25:53 -0500, HeyBub wrote:

Larry Blanchard wrote:

We'll never know unless we try the alternative, will we?

We have tried it. Both Medicare and Medicaid are both, essentially,
single-payer.

I don't know about Medicaid, but I'm on Medicare with a supplement and it
works fine for me. I pay about $300 a month for the pair. Before I was
eligible for Medicare I paid about the same for major medical coverage
only. I still pay that for my wife as she isn't 65 yet.

There is a problem with fraud, but that exists for private insurance as
well.

On my last endoscopy I still had to pay $36, but that's miniscule
compared to what the doctor charged - of course Medicare didn't pay
anywhere near what he charged.

No, it's not perfect, but I'm fairly confident I won't lose my retirement
fund and/or my home from exorbitant medical bills.

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw