Except...it's not obvious that the root cause of the US's current healthcare disaster is "privatization". I work in the industry, and by far the #1 most jarring

Except...it's not obvious that the root cause of the US's current healthcare disaster is "privatization". I work in the industry, and by far the #1 most jarring misconceptions I see floating around forums like this is conflating of "privatized" with "employer sponsored because of decades of tax incentives and mandates". The US is not the only country that has a public-private mix of healthcare, but it is pretty much the only developed country where private health insurance is predominately received through employers rather than on the individual market. If you want a true apples-to-apples cost of public vs private healthcare, you should look at Medicare Advantage vs Original Medicare. When you turn 65, you have the option to enroll either in "Original Medicare", which is what we usually think of when we talk about "single payer healthcare in America", or you can enroll in Medicare Advantage (aka Medicare "Part C"), where the premiums that would go to the CMS instead go to private insurers like Humana, United, Oscar Health, Aetna, Clover, etc. These plans replace Original Medicare, also cover Part D prescription drug benefits, and often include supplemental benefits that Original Medicare doesn't already cover. There are some interesting findings so far: - 39% of Medicare beneficiaries are on private Medicare Advantage plans instead of the public "Original Medicare". Because everyone is entitled to "Original Medicare", this is purely voluntary. This number has been growing so rapidly, that we expect by 2025, more seniors to be on a private plan than the public one. There's also great variance by State. In Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Oregon, Alabama, Hawaii, and Connecticut — nearly 50% of beneficiaries are on Medicare Advantage. By 2022, we expect more seniors in those States to be on a private plan than a public one. https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/a-dozen-facts-about-medicare-advantage-in-2020/ https://www.kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/a-dozen-facts-about... - For most beneficiaries, Medicare Advantage costs about 39% less than Original Medicare. https://healthpayerintelligence.com/news/medicare-advantage-costs-40-less-than-fee-for-service-medicare https://healthpayerintelligence.com/news/medicare-advantage-... - Medicare Advantage plans are, on average, of higher quality than the public Original Medicare. https://healthpayerintelligence.com/news/medicare-advantage-enrollment-quality-continue-upward-trend https://healthpayerintelligence.com/news/medicare-advantage-... - In Urban areas, Medicare Advantage costs less per capita to administer than Medicare — and that's not including the extra Medicare Part D insurance that you would have to buy if you're on the Original Medicare plan. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2016/jan/does-medicare-advantage-cost-less-traditional-medicare https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2...