LaMar Going
Aug 31, 2018 · 2 min read

Thanks for chewing on this. I’m a conservative, and we agree on some of your basic premises, but we see the analysis of the issue from different points of view.

I’m no expert on health care, nor am I a degreed financial whiz, but I am fairly informed on the economics involved here, and the ubiquitous Scandinavian argument. Such comparisons fall flat when measured against accepted methodology, since the nations are wildly divergent.

Population

US: Population 326M
Sweden: 9.9M (about the size of Chicago Metro area)

Number of states (each state with its own health care policies and expenses)

US: 50
Sweden: n/a

Percentage of budget spent on medical care:

US: 24%
Sweden: 7%

Ethnic diversity:
US: Caucasion: 62%
Black: 13%
Hispanic: 18%
Other: 7%

Sweden:

White, Scandinavian/Germanic: 88%
Other: 12%

The sheer number of our population disqualifies a comparison between us and a tiny country like Sweden. However, a comparison of Sweden vs. the Chicago Metro area is valid.

These factors multiply the variables each society must contend with. Sweden, with its largely homogeneous population, is able to focus more on the health care concerns common to that census. America must contend with a raft of cultural variables. Note the percentage of budget expenditures for each country, where we spend almost 4 times the percentage of national budget on health care — and this excludes funds spent by state and local governments on health care! This disparity is one of the many issues to be addressed and is central to the argument against single-payer health care unless we scrap the existing megalith and start over, using market-based principles instead of government myopia. Even your link to the 500B savings document is a statement that is not backed up with data, and is pure conjecture about potential savings under single payer. Most recently, another study estimated an additional 2 trillion cost over ten years — this, on top of our already bloated and fraud-riddled system.

When these factors are discussed honestly, in an environment of respect, it becomes clear that single-payer isn’t really the issue. The issue is bloated government, an obese hog that devours everything in its path, then demands more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more.

Get rid of the waste, inefficiency, and fraud, then watch conservatives join the chorus for single-payer.

LLG

    LaMar Going

    Written by

    Curious humanist.