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I'm basically pro-universal healthcare at this point in some way, shape or form, but the one thing I don't understand is the role of private insurance companies

I'm basically pro-universal healthcare at this point in some way, shape or form, but the one thing I don't understand is the role of private insurance companies in the aftermath. They can't really just... disappear. People have jobs there, and stockholders own investments in these companies. You'd have to answer to a significant amount of people. I feel like we've effectively enmeshed private interests so deeply into the US healthcare system that I don't know what it would look like without it. >My personal opinion is that people are too selfish (I guess?) to even consider free healthcare as an option. I believe that a significant amount of people in the US are too selfish to pay their taxes, let alone for universal healthcare, no matter what long-term figures you show them, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

King-Aaron 8y ago
For sure, private health insurers exist and in a big way. In Australia for instance, there's still privately owned hospitals which do offer a more "premium" level of service - i.e. better rooms, less surgical waiting times, ammenities, often where specialists have their offices, etc. Health insurance gives the option to use these hospitals and the insurer covers the majority of the costs. There's sometimes a 'gap' cost to pay. The thing is, it's not like you might die in the public side of things and live in the private side - you'll get the same kind of primary care. But health insurance becomes a premium service for those who want it. I'm sure there's a lot more to the story as well, but it's one of those things that I'm not an especially full bottle on.