I could be wrong, but I’m under the impression that care actually is provided by the government directly in a bunch of countries, and that those systems work just fine (or at least much better than our system does here in the US).
Yes, but making “what care for which patient” fall under the government’s determination in the US’s system of government is a bad idea. Maybe if there was a slowing of the changeover after elections, but the US’s political situation is too bipolar to implement that level of government control of care (see my examples from above).
Why does there even need to be a bill (in the sense of keeping track of costs on a per-patient basis) to begin with?
Because doctors need to pay their student loans? Because IV fluids need to be clean and put in bags? Because no single patient’s care is standardizable? Maybe theres guidelines and standards of care, but biology is too messy for cookie-cutter care.
Why does there even need to be a bill (in the sense of keeping track of costs on a per-patient basis) to begin with?
Because doctors need to pay their student loans? Because IV fluids need to be clean and put in bags? Because no single patient’s care is standardizable? Maybe theres guidelines and standards of care, but biology is too messy for cookie-cutter care.
Paying the doctor a salary doesn’t require itemizing the costs by patient. All the government really needs to know is the total aggregate demand in order to employ the correct number of doctors, not which patient required what care.
Yes, but making “what care for which patient” fall under the government’s determination in the US’s system of government is a bad idea. Maybe if there was a slowing of the changeover after elections, but the US’s political situation is too bipolar to implement that level of government control of care (see my examples from above).
Because doctors need to pay their student loans? Because IV fluids need to be clean and put in bags? Because no single patient’s care is standardizable? Maybe theres guidelines and standards of care, but biology is too messy for cookie-cutter care.
Paying the doctor a salary doesn’t require itemizing the costs by patient. All the government really needs to know is the total aggregate demand in order to employ the correct number of doctors, not which patient required what care.