Medicare and Medicaid are a disaster. We need a universal healthcare system IN ADDITION to a private sector. The average family is being gouged for health insurance premiums when there should be competition across the board.
UNIVERSAL SYSTEM:
Essentially what we have today. However, to maximize the benefits of a government program, schooling must be paid for by the government. It’s very disheartening for a doctor to come out of school with 1/2M-1M in loan debt to be paying that back their entire life. With reimbursements capped by insurance carriers and the hospital executives making the big bucks.
Implement a government funded medical school program. Begin streamlining/screening kids into the program from high school. By the time they’re in college they are already taking pre-med/medical courses. Eliminate all the useless garbage credits. Cut to the chase. By the time they’re 25-26 years old they can be through medical School, debt free, 100% funded by the government. Serve in a government funded organization for 5 years after graduation. Income is tiered but capped through the first 5 years. All reimbursement to providers is capped. Healthcare for the people. Accessible to all. Quality care. Longer wait times. Very similar to where our healthcare field is today.
After serving their time in the system they are free to seek their own private medical practice or work in a for profit environment. It is near impossible to intertwine today’s medical schooling with universal healthcare and government programs. The cost of school/reimbursement/income gap is too extreme. Healthcare is no longer a prestigious profession.
PRIVATE SECTOR:
Insurance companies can still be around but now they have some competition. Similar to life insurance, an insurance company can screen you and your family prior to providing a premium quote. Americans can purchase health coverage to have access to the private medical sector. This will offer expedited, quality care. The patient cost will be minimal. The reimbursement to the provider will be maximal. Rewarding to both the providers who can now accept an insurance carrier because they’ll actually get paid. And rewarding for the patient who doesn’t have to wait in a doctors office for 4 hours for a routine sick visit.
This is a way to eliminate the long wait times in the ER. Overloaded ER rooms. A working mother can’t take her kids to the doctor without taking an entire day off work because she has to wait 4 hours sitting behind several patients on Medicaid. Nothing against the families on Medicaid. But the working class deserve an option of faster medical care.
This will take 5-10 years to fully implement this program. But it can work. It cannot work today unless you start forgiving medical school debt to start working in these government facilities right from day 1.
We can give billions to Ukraine. Let’s fix our medical system. Eliminate the fee for service. The overuse. Make medicine great again!