Perhaps, but realistically it still wouldn't address the drivers of the problem. You have a very large generation reaching the final stages of life where western medicine's primary role is to keep them alive as long as possible. The care system will be stretched and prices will rise in response to the increase cost of providing the care. Medicare could artificially create some changes in that flow of costs/payers but it doesn't address anything in a remotely holistic manner.
I'm generally for a form of single payer simply because of the massive clusterfuck that is medical billing. But don't think for a moment that it's a magic pill, the problem will eventually 'go away' after the boomers are dead and the population balance changes again. In the meantime there are no easy solutions to finding balance between a universally profit driven economic system and 'appropriate' levels and expenditures for medical care.
Perhaps, but realistically it still wouldn't address the drivers of the problem. You have a very large generation reaching the final stages of life where western medicine's primary role is to keep them alive as long as possible. The care system will be stretched and prices will rise in response to the increase cost of providing the care. Medicare could artificially create some changes in that flow of costs/payers but it doesn't address anything in a remotely holistic manner.
I'm generally for a form of single payer simply because of the massive clusterfuck that is medical billing. But don't think for a moment that it's a magic pill, the problem will eventually 'go away' after the boomers are dead and the population balance changes again. In the meantime there are no easy solutions to finding balance between a universally profit driven economic system and 'appropriate' levels and expenditures for medical care.