Thank you for clearing up a couple of issues regarding choice. I haven't read much but it seems that the limits on specialists are very similar to HMOs here.

That being said I have other concerns. The main one being cost. I despise government run programs in this country because of the constant cost overruns and the greed of politicians who cannot seem to keep their hands out of the general fund, which is where all tax money seems to end up regardless its original intent. Putting every American's health coverage under government control will require a massive tax increase. I prefer to pay my own way. Medicare, medicaid and guaranteed emergency coverage already exist as additional support.

I would rather see some legal reforms made to lower the cost of doctors malpractice insurance. This way more doctors would move away from HMOs and into private practice, where they are not constrained by the HMOs limits.

>SNIP>
>>I've dealt with HMOs, Private Practice and Medicare (my gradfather). I vastly prefer private practice. If a single-payer system is enacted then I lose that choice.
>>
>>Besides, fundamentally, I want less government in my life not more.
>
>Our medicare system here isn't perfect by any means, the most common problem being long wait times for things that shouldn't be waited on.
>
>But I do want to clear up a big misconception you seem to have regarding the implications of "single payor", and that is that you lose choice.
>
>I can go to whichever doctor I want, whenever I want.
>There are now apparently checks in place to ensure that a patient doesn't visit too many doctors in a short period (to get multiple presecriptions or because they didn't like what they heard from the 3 first doctors in the same 1-2 days, etc) but that's it.
>
>I also generally cannot get to see a specialist unless referred by a regular doctor or other specialist. But otherwise I have NO RESTRICTIONS on who I see or when I see them.
>
>I also don't have hassles, EVER, with some clerk denying coverage of a procedure, nor does my doctor. It is true that in some cases, known to the doctors, they have to obtain prior approval for a specific course of treatment but:
>a) those are rare (I understand less than 10 such exist here);
>b) the doctors know about them and know what's needed.
>
>Finally, I NEVER have a hassle with the medicare administrators. I never have to fight for anything. I never have surprises on a bill - I don't ever see a bill. The most that I ever see from medicare are:
>a) every 5 years I have to renew my covergae card;
>b) once in a very blue moon (once in 20 years for me) a patient may get a short note and a post-paid return envelope asking them to confirm that they saw Dr. X for condition Y on date Z.
>
>But your need to have less government in your life, and insurers reminding you as often as they need to about how bad single-payor is, precludes you ever seeing any benefits to a proper medicare system.
>
>cheers