Can we afford single-payer, if that means covering 47 million uninsured people?
We already pay enough for comprehensive coverage for everyone. We just don’t get coverage for everyone, because 31 percent of our health care spending goes for administration through the patchwork of private for-profit insurance companies. Potential savings from eliminating the waste and astonishing profits of insurance companies (like Massachusetts’ Blue Cross/Blue Shield’s 2006 compensation of over $16 million to its retiring CEO William Van Faasen), has been estimated at $350 billion per year. 5) Won’t there be waiting lines or rationing with single-payer? The United States currently rations care based on ability to pay, and 18,000 Americans die every year because they lack health insurance. Canada has a single-payer system, and their waiting times for care are shorter than commonly believed. In 2005, the median wait for specialists or elective surgery was four weeks. Canadians live longer and are more satisfied with their health care than Americans, while paying half as much per pe
