3 R Socialism

   Pay it forward to the next generation even as previous generations paid it for you.

   No one seriously doubts the value of universal basic education, publicly funded and available to all. The ability to read, write and calculate is essential in any modern society. Call it 3 R Socialism.
   So if the social benefits of basic education for all is not disputed, neither should the social benefits of universal basic health care. The exceptionist doubters, however, come largely from the for-profit insurance industry and those who have a knee-jerk opposition to regulation of any kind, especially by government.
   Few can deny the need for government sponsorship and/or regulation of many other fields, including public education, police and fire protection, national defense, road and bridge construction and maintenance, air traffic control, water and sewage service, food and drug purity, and licensing of professionals such as physicians and nurses, plumbers, electricians and teachers, as well as auto and truck drivers, and airline pilots. Take away these and other functions of government and the result is chaos.
   However, there are still many who preach the value of pure, unfettered and unregulated free market capitalism, and these are the same troglodytes who oppose a government-sponsored health care system in the name of protecting the free enterprise of a for-profit insurance industry.

   The reality is that fully free, uncontrolled and unregulated capitalism not only doesn't work, but no longer exists, and hasn't for many years. For that matter, neither does a fully controlled socialist system, because there is little incentive to innovate and produce more than a pre-set, government established quota.
   Unfettered greed sends free market capitalism toppling, as it did several times during the 19th Century. It brought on the Great Depression of the 20th Century as well as the Great Recession and the widespread fiscal crisis of the 21st Century.
   Soviet style socialism, also known as communism, failed for reasons beyond the stifling of incentive. For one thing, it was imposed on a Russian feudal society, attempting to leap directly to the dream of a socialist economy, bypassing any Industrial Revolution such as occurred in Britain and German. This is what Karl Marx had in mind when he wrote of the inevitable collapse of capitalism. In fact, he was specific in saying that it would not and could not happen in Russia, because that country was still operating in a feudal economy.
   Moreover, while Marx did describe the rise of labor unions, he did not foresee that management would come to a cooperative agreement with labor to the benefit of both sides.
   So what we have in America is a mixed economy, combining elements of a free enterprise system with essential controls by government.
   But this is a digression only to describe the problem of uncontrolled for-profit industries -- in this instance, health insurance.
   In the current system in America, there are hundreds of private enterprise firms offering a bewildering array of health insurance policies, all with varying payment systems and amounts for the many medical issues that the company chooses to cover. Or not.
   To cope with this, many physicians must hire extra staff to handle and process claims and rejections, supply referrals to other physicians for needed care, make followup calls to clarify issues and attempt to get payment from the many companies and policies that must be dealt with.
   There is also a widespread practice in the industry of instructing employees to routinely reject claims, thus delaying payment in the hope that the applicant will give up and go away.
   In the words of one physician, "I just want to practice medicine." Instead, the profiteers force the profession to boost fees to hire extra staff to process the paperwork.

   Would a single-payer system resolve all the problems? Possibly not, but such systems work reasonably well in other major countries, including Canada, Britain and other nations. Meanwhile, America spends more on health care per person than any other major country, yet has one of the worst outcomes.

   Health care, like public education, is a social benefit. It's too important to left entirely, solely and completely to the private sector.