Republicans finally decide to embrace "single-payer" coverage

It took several decades, but Republicans finally realized that healthcare coverage in our nation is incredibly messy, inefficient and unfair...not to mention outrageously costly.

It may finally have dawned on them that healthcare is not a luxury but a necessity that cannot be left solely in the hands of their beloved "markets."

Massachusetts' Gov. Romney is seemingly the Republican designee chosen to introduce the single-payer system to our nation without admitting, of course, that it is a single-payer system since that has been the Democratic proposal for many, many years.

In a single-payer system, the services of large health insurers are basically not required, since they don't provide healthcare services. Republicans won't state this, plus we're a long way from weaning ourselves of the insurance companies, but Romney's plan is clearly the first step toward mandatory coverage, and it will undoubtedly spread to more states sooner, rather than later.

I suspect that Gov. Romney's new venture had the tacit approval of the White House, which in turn had the tacit approval of large corporations such as General Motors, Ford and many others.

Reason: U.S. orporations can no longer compete with foreign firms given that the latter are not burdened by high employee healthcare costs, which add considerably to the ultimate cost of the vehicle.

True, "choice" of private providers remains the Republicans' primary objective; however, that too will change in time, given that they will no longer be able to raise prices at will. Medicare will increasingly become the model upon which healthcare coverage will be built.

As this new system develops, the drug coverage bill passed by Congress will also undergo major surgery that will hopefully result in a rational program that allows for negotiation with drug companies to lower prices and cover all medicines, rather than only those that a given individual may need at a given time.

The love of "choice" so dear to Republicans will go the way of the dinosaur as the healthcare industry gears up to provide services for ALL Americans, with emphasis on prevention.

The enormous amounts of tax payers' dollars spent on emergency rooms for non-emergency treatment will also be a thing of the past, since every individual will have access to a primary doctor who will refer his patient to a specialist if he/she deems it necessary.

Stockholders of insurance companies will be the only losers as our nation FINALLY realizes that healthcare coverage is a MUST for ALL!!!