Let’s talk about health care.
Yeah, I know — the topic everybody avoids because it’s either depressing, infuriating, or so expensive that your blood pressure spikes just thinking about it, which ironically means you now need health care, which causes more stress, which raises your blood pressure again, and suddenly you’re stuck in an infinite loop of medical bills and existential dread.
Welcome to America, land of the free and home of the $7,000 MRI.
And suddenly Maine — the land of trees, lobster, and winter misery so brutal even polar bears look around and go “nah, too cold” — is out here producing doctors, nurses, and hospital leaders who are actually saying something that makes sense:
“Hey, maybe everyone should just have health care.”
You know, something radical. Like sanity.
But before we get into that, let’s take a moment to explore why our entire system feels like it was designed by raccoons wearing tiny suits and carrying briefcases full of shredded paper.
Because it’s not just broken — it’s impressively broken. It’s broken in a way that makes you step back and admire the craftsmanship of the disaster.
THE GREATEST MAGIC TRICK IN AMERICAN HISTORY: PAY MORE, GET LESS
Only in this country could you pay more than everyone else on Earth and still walk away with the medical equivalent of a car held together with duct tape and hope.
We created a system so expensive, so stupid, so convoluted, that if you tried to explain it to someone from another country, they'd just assume you were describing a comedy sketch.
We treat insurance companies like benevolent overlords, even though their primary business model is:
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Take your money
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Lose your paperwork
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Say “that’s not covered”
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Smile while doing it
You ever call your insurance company?
They answer the phone like you’re interrupting their lunch break at the DMV.
Meanwhile hospitals are drowning in administrative paperwork thicker than a Cheesecake Factory menu. Doctors want to help people, but half their day is spent fighting with a computer system that looks like it was coded in 1978 by a man who thought Pong was a technological breakthrough.
And nurses? Nurses are out here doing EVERYTHING. They’re the only reason the system hasn’t collapsed into the sea like a wet cardboard box. They’re the duct tape holding the Titanic together after it hit the iceberg.
And here’s the fun part:
THEY’RE ACTUALLY ASKING FOR SINGLE-PAYER.
When the people who work inside the machine are screaming, “PLEASE REDESIGN THE MACHINE, THE GEARS ARE EATING US,” maybe — hear me out — maybe we should listen to them.
WHEN THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW THE SYSTEM BEST ARE SAYING IT SUCKS, THAT’S NOT A GOOD SIGN
Let me paint a picture.
You’ve got public health doctors, medical association leaders, hospital board members, and nurses — the people who keep your community alive, who deal with the fallout of every insurance hassle, every delayed treatment, every bankruptcy caused by a broken leg — and they’re all basically united in saying:
“Yeah this system is terrible. Please fix it.”
That should be a wake-up call the size of a lighthouse.
But what happens?
Run-of-the-mill politicians show up like:
“Well we’d love to fix it but that sounds like work, and my donors don’t like work, so how about we just form a committee and revisit this in 2085?”
Meanwhile, the nurses in Maine — who deal with real human suffering, not committee PowerPoints — are out here saying:
“We need Medicare for All.”
Doctors are saying:
“We need universal coverage.”
Hospital leaders — you know, the people usually allergic to bold statements — are saying:
“Yeah, maybe a system where hospitals don’t go bankrupt every 12 minutes would be nice.”
When hospital CEOs start talking like revolutionaries, congratulations, your system is officially a flaming dumpster rolling down a hill into a lake of gasoline.
AMERICA: THE ONLY PLACE WHERE GETTING SICK IS A LUXURY PURCHASE
Why is the American version of health care built like a casino you’re guaranteed to lose at?
Because we treat medical care like it’s an optional hobby.
Like pottery.
Or yodeling.
You go to the ER with a broken arm and suddenly you’re trapped in a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book written by Satan.
“Your X-ray will cost $1,300 unless you guess the right billing code. Choose wisely.”
You don’t need medical attention, you need a lawyer, an accountant, a personal assistant, and a Ouija board to decipher the bill.
And if you don’t have insurance?
Good luck. They treat you like you’re trying to buy a yacht using Monopoly money.
Unless you’re a millionaire or live in one of the few states where people have figured out that maybe — just maybe — medical care shouldn’t depend on which job you got stuck with during your most desperate career era.
MAINE, SURPRISINGLY, IS OUT HERE ADULTING
You’d think the state famous for moose collisions and Dunkin Donuts loyalty wouldn’t be leading the conversation on health policy.
But no — Maine is suddenly the straight-A student in a classroom full of kids eating glue.
Nurses? Supporting single-payer.
Doctors? Supporting single-payer.
Medical students? Supporting single-payer.
Hospital board members? Supporting single-payer.
Hospital CEOs? Supporting single-payer.
At this point even the moose are probably on board.
And why shouldn’t they be?
They’re living in a system where the simplest decisions are overrun by:
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Billing departments
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Insurance gatekeepers
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Prior authorization trolls
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Pharmacy benefit managers
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Administrative labyrinths
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Paperwork so dense it could deflect meteorites
You know what single-payer does?
It turns all that trash into something functional.
Not perfect. Not magical. Just functional.
Which, by American standards, is revolutionary enough to count as witchcraft.
THE BIG FEAR: “BUT WHAT ABOUT COST?”
You ever notice Americans only get concerned about costs when someone else is benefiting?
“Oh we can’t afford single-payer.”
Oh really?
Because apparently we can afford:
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$8 trillion wars
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Corporate tax breaks large enough to blot out the sun
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Bailouts for billionaires who lost at their own casino
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Subsidies for industries that profit from lighting the planet on fire
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Politicians taking three-day weekends every week for 40 years
But health care?
“Oh no, we don’t have the money for that! What are we, made of gold?”
Here’s the truth:
We’re already paying for single-payer.
We’re just paying for it in the dumbest way possible.
We’re paying through:
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Premiums
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Deductibles
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Co-pays
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Out-of-network surprise charges
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Employer contributions
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Lost wages
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Medical bankruptcies
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Delayed care
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Early death
In what world is that the fiscally responsible option?
It’s like choosing to buy a car one wheel at a time at 10,000% markup and then bragging about your financial discipline.
THE VERMONT STORY: EVERYBODY LOVES TO BRING UP THE FAILURE
Whenever someone mentions single-payer, there’s always that one guy who pops up like a malfunctioning jack-in-the-box:
“But what about Vermont?? It didn’t work in Vermont!! Gotcha!”
Yeah, Vermont — population: three dairy farmers and a maple tree — tried to build a state-only single-payer system, with no federal support, no national risk pool, and no existing infrastructure.
It’s like trying to build the International Space Station using duct tape and a Home Depot gift card.
But even THEY — the ones who struggled — are now saying:
“We still support universal coverage.”
How broken does a system have to be for people to fail at fixing it and still say, “Yeah, let’s try again”?
That’s how bad it is.
That’s like getting mauled by a bear and saying, “You know what? Bears might be the answer.”
THE AMA: SLOWLY WAKING UP FROM A 100-YEAR NAP
Doctors used to oppose single-payer like it was a personal insult.
But now medical students — future doctors — are out here submitting resolutions like:
“Maybe we should stop being allergic to ideas that make sense.”
And the older doctors?
Even the associations that always avoided picking sides are saying:
“Coverage for everyone might be the way to go.”
No kidding.
It’s almost like doctors prefer treating patients to running a scavenger hunt through insurance codes.
HOSPITALS: THE CANARY IN THE HEALTH CARE COAL MINE
When hospitals start saying:
“By the way, we like the idea of global budgets, reliable payments, and not drowning in charity care,”
What they’re actually saying is:
“PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING HOLY, STOP MAKING US OPERATE LIKE A COLLECTION AGENCY.”
Hospitals are supposed to heal people, not chase down unpaid bills like a mob boss collecting debts.
You know how messed up it is that hospitals have entire departments dedicated to figuring out which patients will be allowed to pay them?
Imagine if firefighters only responded to fires after checking your credit score.
THE REALITY NOBODY WANTS TO ADMIT
All of this chaos — all of it — exists because we treat health care as a market.
But health care is not a market.
You don’t comparison shop for emergency brain surgery.
You don’t look at a burning house and go:
“Hmm, I’m going to check Yelp before calling for help.”
Health care is not a luxury good.
It’s not a theme park.
It’s not crypto.
It’s not a subscription box.
It is the one thing every person needs at some point.
And everyone knows it — doctors, nurses, patients, hospital execs, economists, your grandmother, your barber, your cat — EVERYBODY.
Except the people who get paid to pretend the system works.
THE SURPRISING PART: MAINE MIGHT NOT WAIT FOREVER
You’ve got legislators debating LD 1883.
You’ve got nurses backing it.
You’ve got doctors backing it.
You’ve got hospital leaders nodding along like “yeah, that’d help actually.”
You’ve got medical students saying, “we want this.”
You’ve got advocates organizing.
You’ve got communities talking openly.
And Maine isn’t a place that loves radical change.
This is a state where people still wave at strangers on the road like it’s 1953.
If THIS state is inching toward health care sanity, maybe it’s time for the rest of the country to look up from their premium bills and say:
“Wait a minute… are we the idiots here?”
Spoiler:
Yes.
We are.
THE MYTHS, DEMOLISHED WITHOUT MERCY
Let’s take a moment to destroy the greatest hits — the arguments so weak they collapse under the weight of their own stupidity.
Myth 1: “Single-payer means rationing!”
Buddy, you’re already rationing.
It’s called prior authorization.
It’s called network restrictions.
It’s called denials for no reason.
It’s called you can’t afford it.
The only difference is that right now, rationing comes with a side of inflated CEO bonuses.
Myth 2: “But taxes will go up!”
Yes, taxes go up.
Bills go down.
Math is wild like that.
Myth 3: “Government can’t run health care!”
Medicare says hi.
The VA says hi.
Every industrialized nation says hi.
Your grandma, who loves her Medicare more than her grandchildren, also says hi.
Myth 4: “People want choice!”
Nobody wants choice.
People want care.
Nobody has ever said:
“Ah yes, my appendix is exploding, please present me with 14 coverage tiers and a spreadsheet.”
THE ACTUAL POINT — AND THE REASON MAINE’S DOCTORS AREN’T CRAZY
At the end of the day, this isn’t about politics.
This isn’t about ideology.
This isn’t about slogans that fit on bumper stickers.
This is about human beings.
People get sick.
People break bones.
People get cancer.
People get diabetes.
People have babies.
People age.
And in a decent, functioning society, the price of staying alive shouldn’t be bankruptcy.
If you want real freedom?
Start with the freedom to survive an illness without losing your house.
If you want real choice?
Start with the choice to seek medical care without choosing between food and insulin.
If you want real patriotism?
Start with taking care of the people who keep this country running — not the companies extracting profit from their pain.
MAINE IS DOING WHAT EVERY STATE SHOULD BE DOING
Listening to the people who actually know what the hell they’re talking about.
Doctors.
Nurses.
Medical students.
Hospitals.
Public health leaders.
They aren’t being idealists.
They’re being realists.
They work in the trenches.
They see the flaws.
They’re begging for solutions.
They’re waving every red flag in existence.
And they’re telling us — loudly, clearly, repeatedly:
“This system is failing.
We know what would fix it.
Let’s do it.”
When the experts agree, it’s usually time to stop arguing and start acting.
CLOSING THOUGHT: THE SYSTEM ISN’T BROKEN — IT’S WORKING EXACTLY AS DESIGNED
The bad news?
The American health care system isn’t a failure.
It’s a success story.
Just not for you.
It works brilliantly for:
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Insurance companies
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Pharmaceutical giants
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Middlemen
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Private equity
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Lobbyists
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Politicians with donor lists thicker than medical textbooks
Everyone else?
You get stress.
You get bills.
You get confusion.
You get suffering.
That’s the real tragedy.
But the good news?
People — real people — are done.
Doctors are done.
Nurses are done.
Hospitals are done.
Communities are done.
And Maine is leading the charge with something America hasn’t seen in a long time:
Common sense.
So maybe — just maybe — this is the beginning of the end for a system that has been draining the life out of people for decades.
Here’s hoping.
Because as one Maine hospital leader put it:
“Something has to give.
But it shouldn’t be people’s health.”
For once, that’s a prescription worth filling.