What, again, is a single-payer system? Not Britain; that's socialized medicine (where the government owns the hospitals and employs the doctors). Not the U. S. or the rest of the developed world; that would be a private insurer-based system.
Instead, it's one with a single insurance company administered by the government. Think of Canada (gasp!) or our own Medicare (phew!).
Why, on earth, you might ask, is Vermont considering a single-payer system? Well, for starters, it would probably be cheaper and more efficient. (Administration costs would be much lower.) And, just as importantly, it would be fairer. (No one would have an economic incentive to deny you care.)
Take the example of 55-year old Vermont resident Walter Carpenter:
“This is personal for me,” Carpenter said. His advocacy for health care as a right and for a system that covers everyone grew from his own experience with private insurance, he said. Carpenter was in the midst of treatment for a life-threatening illness when his employer switched insurers, forcing him to find new doctors and change hospitals. Then he lost his job and his insurance, and had to grapple with paying for an operation that would save his life. “I had to barter the price for my own life. Imagine that.”
That could be you.
Now I have an insurance policy through the individual market. And my family has been blessed with good health. So far, I'm one of the winners. But if one of us got sick, would my insurance company make good on their part of the bargain? I really don't know. And that's scary. And it should scare you, too. Because, no matter who you are, you may be only a pink slip or a serious illness away from bankruptcy.
In a single-payer system, like Medicare, you'd be covered. Period. Just ask your parents.
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