> ...doesn't Australia and/or Canada have a system where
> there is guaranteed health care, but folks can stay
> with private insurers if they so choose? That seems
> more feasible for the US, to me.
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Don't know about Australia, but coverage is mandatory in Canada for
everyone, including immigrants. You apply for a health card in your province
of residence, and get it clicked whenever you see a GP or specialist.
Medicare covers "all medically necessary services", and doctors and
hospitals bill the government rather than the patient. Physician rates are
negotiated between the provincial medical associations and the 10
governments. Prescription drugs, eyeglasses, dental care, chiropractic, and
some other services aren't covered by Medicare, but larger employers often
provide supplementary group plans which cover what Medicare doesn't, and
retirees and others will sometimes buy Blue Cross or other private insurance
to extend their coverage.
This is not the system Clinton and Obama propose. Each requires premium payments by individuals. Most Canadian provinces which administer the mostly federally funded plan don't collect premiums, but Ontario, Alberta, and BC do. Alberta, however, has just announced it will be scrapping its premium. Ontario, which had abolished its medicare premium, reintroduced it in 2004 to compensate for cutbacks in the federal share of health care funding. But the Ontario premium is about a tenth the average $4500 cost for coverage under the Massachusetts plan which someone earlier mentioned on the list, and it goes into public rather than any private coffers. Most residents pay between $300-500 annually.
Canadians grumble about wait times for MRIs and elective surgery but, on balance, as I've stated before, if it ever came to a referendum to join the US, the vast majority would vote against against simply because of the absence of a single payer system across the border.
Of course, if we ever did join, single payer would come in the first election, and the enlarged US would become a one-party state, if polls regularly showing overwhelming Canadian support for the Democrats are to be believed. :)