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Originally Posted by AmeliaG If the 8% were for universal healthcare (not insurance where you still have to hope you are covered), I'd definitely vote for that.

If you consider that the Medicare reimbursement rate is something like 26% of the chargemaster rates and one-half or less of the private insurance reimbursement rate of the chargemaster rates -- it's doable.

Maybe, I would need to pay extra for a private hospital room or some experimental test with cash or with a supplemental insurance policy but that would be my voluntary decision ... That 8% should cover basic preventive and critical/trauma care.

Medications are another whole issue I am not sure if our prices are subsidising the government operated national healthcare plans of other countries, or their third world pharmacies, or we are just getting ripped off on prescription medications. A centralized buyer like a national healthcare would be able to negotiate a much lower price as it would be on oligopoly like the power or gas company is, with the same potential for abuse possible also.