How do the poor benefit from universal health care?

Who benefits from cost shifting, the poor or the rich? Do any health care workers benefit from cost shifting?

• Who benefits from cost shifting, the poor or the rich? Do any health care workers benefit from cost shifting?

• Answer:

  In summary, cost shifting doesn't actually benefit anyone, it is just a market response based on basic principles of supply and demand. Folks that receive Medicare and Medicaid benefits will find that the Government is paying their provider a lower rate than what commercial payers will pay, and there is a legal mandate that providers accept the lower rate, so they get the care they need anyway. So what the providers to is charge everyone else a higher rate to make up the difference. Providers come out about even, and those of us on traditional insurance are spending a little extra to cover the shortfall, and may work less or go to the doctor less as the cost shifting produces a disincentive to work or seek medical care. And it tends to put doctors in areas that are mostly medicare and medicaid patients out of business since every one of those is an operating loss. The effect is that fewer people want to become doctors or become part of the health care field, and so there will be more and more need for people to travel to hospitals outside the US for surgi-cations. So the true beneficiares are the Brain Surgeons in India.