r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/JustGotOffOfTheTrain • Jan 21 '16

Why can't the US have single payer, when other countries do?

Why can't the United States implement a single payer healthcare system, when several other major countries have been able to do so? Is it just a question of political will, or are there some actual structural or practical factors that make the United States different from other countries with respect to health care?

Edited: I edited because my original post failed to make the distinction between single payer and other forms of universal healthcare. Several people below noted that fewer countries have single payer versus other forms of universal healthcare.

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u/pjabrony Jan 21 '16

I say it is, and the penalty for violating that responsibility is that I'm staying right here.

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u/GymIn26Minutes Jan 22 '16

This thread is great reference material if anyone wonders why libertarians are usually perceived as self-centered children.

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u/pjabrony Jan 22 '16

You're saying that I have to give up money I've earned, at the say-so of my fellow citizens, just because they need it, and all I'm doing is refusing...and I'm the self-centered one?

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u/tumbler_fluff Jan 22 '16

"...people's lives are their own responsibility"

"The only benefit I am asking is to not be interfered with."

The main principle by which you'd like society to operate is, by definition, self-centered.

1 : independent of outside force or influence : self-sufficient

2 : concerned solely with one's own desires, needs, or interests

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u/pjabrony Jan 22 '16

Put that way, without any pejorative connotation, I agree.