I'm for Socialized Medicine and elimination of private insurance and HMOs.

Now the insurance industry , big pharma, consultants, and others control the lack of a system.
With the government WE can have our say.
Both with our votes and with a local citizens committee (led by direct care nurses- I would lobby for that).
I am very glad for the government regulations that exist regarding health facilities and safety. They need to be improved.

I agree that we currently have a number of entities with competing interests that influence our system, including government (in terms of regulation and payment), insurance companies, manufacturers, etc. None of which have the patient's best interest at heart, including the government.

I fear a system where only the government exerts influence, because I believe that the oversight we currently have (flawed and inadequate as it may be) will be completely lost.

But I ask: what good are government regulations when the government will only be regulating itself? Is that not the fox guarding the henhouse?

Far better, IMO to put individuals in charge of their own healthcare by enabling them to purchase services for themselves and by making providers acountable to them, not the government or insurance company.

I fail to understand how an individual who is taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital can make that facility accountable to them.

I am for regulations regarding the physical facility, required equipment and staff, sanitary requirements, isolation, pharmacy regulations, and such.
I can't believe anyong is against this. So what am I missing?

There is a myth that, with national health insurance, the government will be making the medical decisions. But in a publicly-financed, universal health care system medical decisions are left to the patient and doctor, as they should be. This is true even in the countries like the UK and Spain that have socialized medicine.
In a public system the public has a say in how it’s run. Cost containment measures are publicly managed at the state level by an elected and appointed body that represents the people of that state. This body decides on the benefit package, negotiates doctor fees and hospital budgets. It also is responsible for health planning and the distribution of expensive technology.
The benefit package people will receive will not be decided upon by the legislature, but by the appointed body that represents all state residents in consultation with medical experts in all fields of medicine.

Now is this the same standards of care that the government is enforcing in our Veteran Hospitals? How we are treating our veterans?

Now is this the same standards of care that the government is enforcing in our Veteran Hospitals? How we are treating our veterans?

I'm afraid we need to elect more competent and honest people to our high offices.
Probably a new admistration will do better than the current one.