Northrup 1 Lexi Northrup Writing 1010 Brenda McKenna December 9, 2013 The Single-Payer System Will Fail the

United States of America With a single-payer system, the elderly wont receive medical care past 65 and the premature babies will not survive. As of today, Medicare is failing. Being a single-payer system we have proof that the system will fail America. In a single-payer system, the government would be in charge of paying for citizens health care costs instead of private insurers. This system is also referred to as socialized medicine. ObamaCare has been termed a small step to a single-payer system by the A singlepayer system, like Medicare, is the cure for Americas ailing healthcare article. I have seen the backbone to ObamaCare, and it isnt a pretty sight. For years, I have witnessed state employees attend conferences, and extensive meetings to clearly understand ObamaCare and its impact for the state of Utah. As the Assistant Commissioner for the Utah Insurance Department, my mom, has given me the run down of this system over many dinners. She has specifically said that, ObamaCare sets the path to a slippery slope to a single-payer system that will lead us to death panels, a limited healthcare work force, and will significantly halt the worlds medical innovations. In this quote my mom refers to a death panel and how it would be integrated with ObamaCare, meaning a panel would determine who would be worth medical attention and who wouldnt, mainly focusing on the elderly and pre-mature babies. She

Northrup 2 also mentions ObamaCare halting the worlds medical innovations, meaning the money put towards the innovation would now be put towards the healthcare system instead of new medical technology. At first glance it seems that Americans will be offered reduced health insurance premiums, but as you look closer to the numbers you can see that Americans will end up paying higher premiums. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), there are billions of dollars being used to import brand name prescription drugs and new taxes for medical devices. Those fees and taxes will then be passed down to future generations, resulting in raising health care costs from $2.1 million in 2011 to $18.2 billion in 2018. Many people believe that with ObamaCare they will finally be able to receive healthcare. Before ObamaCare, everyone already had access to health insurance it just heavily depended on how you spent your income and if you made room in the budget to pay for health insurance. If a family only had access to a low income, then that family would qualify for Medicaid. It may not be a perfect solution, but it can be made a temporary solution for basic healthcare needs. It is easy to look at the positive side to ObamaCare and ignore the negative side, to play a neutral role in politics. If a person was to look at the negative impacts, they would eventually realize with ObamaCare there are more cons to this system then there are pros. A negative aspect of ObamaCare is that 87 million Americans would lose their exsisting insurance plan and be given a new one that follows the criteria given by the new federal restrictions under ObamaCare. This will increase the wait time to see a doctor and lower the quality of medical service a patient recieves.

Northrup 3 With the requirement for everyone to purchase health insurance, the question is raised whether or not there will be enough physicians to care for patients. When looking at the calculations and comparing the ratio of physicians to patients, there will be an increasingly high demand for physicians that cannot be supplied by America. Another point that comes across is will the next generations want to become doctors with Obamacare? The answer is no. Our future generations will not wake up ecstatic to go to work in the morning, but dread it because there will no longer be money to spend on new medical technology, innovations that could change the world, or possibly the outcome of a patients survival To save the ailing health care system, we must listen to our doctors and begin to plan accordingly to the supply and demand of our physicians. In order to begin developing the health reform further, America must look at our exsiting laws regarding healthcare. As the courts and Congress dive deeper into ObamaCare, does it seem constitutional? No, it is unconstitutional to require every person in the United States to purchase healthcare from a private insurer or be faced with the alternative of a fine for not purchasing the correct insurance. This becomes questioned under the commerce clause of the Constitition (Article 1, Section 8) The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties ,imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States It becomes questioned because the government has used commerce to collect the taxes to support Social Security and Medicaid, but it should not be used to force individuals to purchase healthcare through a private company just to help boost the economy.

Northrup 4 If one looks at every industrialized country, they can see that the United States is the only country without a socialized system for healthcare. All of the other countries, such as Canada are on a slow decline due to their socialized medicine. ObamaCare may only be a small step towards a single-payer system, but will put us on the road towards socialized medicine. The United States will fail from ObamaCare.