I agree with this for the most part. At the end of the day, thanks to the mandate, we will be saving a ton of cash because insurance companies will be eating the costs of folks that were previously uninsured.
Also, the pharm argument doesn't hold water in a single payer system. The massive amount of tax dollars saved would likely go to R&D funding anyway.
And where do you think those costs the insurance companies are eating will go? They're gonna just spread the cost down to the user.
Which is why they're restricting benefits, strictly limiting access to care by only negotiating with limited numbers of providers. These plans have huge deductibles many are high deductible plans (you need to pay like the first 5-6 grand before the insurance kicks in). And then they bundle together services that the user wouldn't want or need.
Everything's a mess, and as a result were going to see a wild transformation in healthcare in the very near future. People are going to get treated over the Internet by some doctor in India, insurance companies will be managing your health (not just your insurance)
Massive change is coming, and I don't think it'll be for the better
Also big pharma wouldn't save excrement. In a single payer system the govt can grab companies by the balls controlling prices and what not. So big pharma would lose wild amounts of cash not save it