SCARCITY AND CHOICES

Single Payer Universal Health Care-with Government as the Fiscal Intermediary



Executive Summary

The health care reform debate in the United States is defined by the choice between free market reform and a government-administered single payer alternative. Nearly half the population receives access to health care through government directed programs (e.g. Medicare) while the remainder is covered by private insurers. In spite of the current mix of allocation mechanisms advocates on both sides of the debate have argued for the superiority of one form over the other in controlling costs and constraining aggregate demand. Precisely because allocation is the focus of the debate, “health care” is conceived of as a cost incurred by businesses, individuals and/or the government. A miserly attitude prevails. My topic of the final paper is Scarcity and Choice. We try to relate with this as a single Payer Universal Health Care-with government as the fiscal intermediary. The paper will briefly describe the single Payer Universal Health Care using scarcity and choice as an economic model. The paper also analyzes the topic using the scarcity and choice as a model with the help of quantitative data. The paper also highlights the economic forces that had an impact both positive and negative on single payer universal health care with government as the fiscal intermediary. The paper also evaluates the topic through quantitative points. The paper highlights the limitation and recommendations for the future. In last the paper will conclude the overall discussion. Single payer health care reform alternatives are fantasies conceived within a capital centric symbolic order and united by their common belief in scarcity. It is through this shared belief in scarcity that health care reform is reduced to the process of disciplining of both patient and provider, constraining their “enjoyment.”

Table of Contents

Executive Summaryii

Introduction1

Background1

Discussion2

Utilizing quantitative data to support the discussion perspective4

Utilizing quantitative data to support the perspective5

Economic forces impacting both positive and negatively6

Evaluate7

Assumptions & limitations9

Recommendations10

Conclusions10

Single Payer Universal Health Care-with Government as the Fiscal Intermediary

Introduction

Single payer system makes access to health care more unequal: instead of everyone waiting to treat according to need, the wealthy would find ways to jump the queue and obtain treatment. There would be less incentive for firms to develop new pharmaceuticals and new medical devices to conduct research on new medical procedures that can save patients lives because of the tight control of medical costs. Patients would suffer in the long run. The long waiting times that result from rationing health care worsen the quality of life and endanger the health of patients, in many countries with single payer system, there are long waiting times for non emergency medical treatments. Physician's compensation would be reduced under a single payer system of health care, providing less incentive for people to enter the medical profession. The evidence on the overhead costs of running Medicare suggests that cost savings from switching to a single payer system may be small to nonexistent (Danny, 2004).

Background

Just as individuals face scarcity and choice, so does the economy as a ...