re: #250 laZardo

And how would “undercutting” the competition drive private insurers out of business, assuming that national health care pans out like it does? Especially if doctors on the NHC payroll start ending up on the wrong end of malpractice suits.

/devil’s advocate

Your last point first. Under a NHC system you won’t be allowed to sue a doctor on the government payroll for malpractice. Ex. the VA not properly sterilizing their colonoscopy equipment. You think any of the veterans who’ve caught hepatitis of HIV are going to be able to sue? Think again. There may be a compensation board, but the money won’t come from the doctors, it will come from the taxpayers, and the compensation will be small compared to current awards or to the actual damages suffered. How much do you think a veteran who turns up with hepatitis is really going to collect?

Explain how a subsidized government subsidized health insurance system is NOT going to drive private insurers out of the market. The only way I can see private insurance staying in business is if people are allowed to opt out of the government system into a private system, as occurs in Britain. Note that opting out would not have been allowed under Hillarycare.