the answer is NOT in the funding. deciding which peter to rob in order to pay paul is side-stepping the issue.
the problem can ONLY be solved by addressing the price set by the providers.
the second anon does not have his facts straight. drs and hospital routinely accept 10% of the billed fee as payment in full from big insurers like BC/BS, but demand 100% of the billled fee from cash paying patients. if someone is on medicare or medicaid, they get 80% of the billed fee from the gov't (which is already EIGHT TIMES more than they get from private insurance) and they STILL expect the patient to cough up the remaining 20%. providers and insurers ACT as tho they are adversaries, but their actions indicate they are acting in concert to blackmail people into buying insurance.
i had an inquinal hernia, and no insurance. i was well under 65, so i applied for BC/BS without disclosing a pre-existing condition. i waited a few weeks, then went to a dr and had surgery. the total bill fees exceeded $30,000. BC/BS paid around $3000 total to all providers, and they ALL accepted what they got as payment in full. i think i paid a $30 co-pay to the surgeon. his fee was over $5000 for a 20 minute operation. and that was 30 yrs ago.
THAT is the root problem with healthcare. drs who believe their time is worth $15,000/hr, regardless of results. i could tell many more stories from a lifetime of experience. the end result is the same.
THIS is the only solution that works. med school is FREE for anyone who qualifies, paid for by the gov't. when drs are graduated, they become federal employees and are paid a flat fee per patient, determined by the gov't.
all pharmaceutical research is funded by the gov't, and the results are public domain from day one. no more patents on medicine that allow big pharma to charge $1000 for a pill that costs less than $1 to manufacture. once approved by a GOV'T controlled FDA (not the corp rubber-stamp given to us by Reagan) all new drugs instantly become generic, any company can produce it, and drug mfgrs will have to compete in a free marketplace to sell their product.
THIS is the only solution that puts the patients' best interest FIRST.