[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by blueash

Your posting does not correctly reflect the way health care coverage operates. A single payer system, such as Medicare, means that the rules, formularies, coverages, exclusions, etc. would be the same for all of us. The payer then pays the provider for covered services in a uniform and predictable manner. The payer does NOT provide the medical record nor have access to the medical record without the consent of the patient. The only part of the medical record which might be made available would be that pertinent to paying for a claim to see if the doctor or hospital actually did perform the service for which the carrier is being billed or to see if the patient's illness justifies a requested medication or intervention. If you believe that seeing a doctor who operates under a government run health care is a risk to your privacy, then don't use your Medicare insurance. If you like Medicare, you like government run health care, plain and simple.

I'm not sure that that is true. When I go to the doctor, if he determines that I need some sort of treatment, he must submit a treatment plan to the insurance company which they then must approve before I can receive the treatment. Wouldn't a single payer require that they approve all treatment plans ina similar way. if they would then wound't they have a record of everything that everyone had been treated for?