If the federal government running health care would work in the US, within a US culture and economy, and within the way our government (doesn't) work, why doesn't the VA work? It's really a dysfunctional mess.
Genuine question.
I'm very comfortable with trying out single payer / socialized medicine on a state level. Please let's do this! I'd like to see it work on a state or other smaller scale first before we nationalize it. I think this is a place that liberals and conservatives could actually agree... and that's how health care can be reformed in the quickest manner.
State governments are generally more flexible and able to change and adapt. The federal government isn't. They couldn't even get the ACA website to work... but my state could get their state site to work. They could be more flexible and quick.
We have a lot of factors in healthcare that other nations don't have to contend with in the US when it comes to nationalizing healthcare - like the fact that drug companies can advertise to patients in the US (and this won't change anytime soon) or the amount we spend on medical research and on health care in general. That creates not just an economic difference but a cultural one --- and both economics and culture affect how people vote and thus how even socialized medicine would function in the US.
Corporations are people in the US. Right or wrong, that's the legal reality. That's going to change how "we the people" run our government if/when it runs healthcare.
We spend more, and we get more care in general than any other nation, but it doesn't mean our lifespans are longer. (
What Country Spends The Most (And Least) On Health Care Per Person?)
It does mean the American expectation of what health care should look like could be much higher. We are a-fix-it-now and give-us-the-best population. We are very indidualistic. Not exactly known for our patience as a country. Private insurance isn't eliminated in Australia at the moment, some still have that to fill in gaps in government coverage.
In other countries people probably (maybe?) have a greater tolerance for delays, but here, we are more likely to spend ourselves into oblivion ON EVERYTHING as a nation, because.... me, me, me. We nearly crashed the global economy in part because Americans chased cheap home kind they couldn't afford. I love my country dearly, but sometimes as a culture, we are financially stupid. Just sayin. In other nations, I think there is more of a sense of "we" and that not everyone can have everything they want all the time.
Trump seems to like Australia's way of doing it though, sort of:
Trump doubles down: ‘Of course’ Australia has better health care than the US
