Originally Posted by kane

Well, one way they could keep cost down is by setting a ceiling of what they are willing to pay for services/medication. Say, for example, a drug company is currently selling a drug at $200 for a 30 day supply. In a single-payer system, the government could say something like: "We will pay $100 for that drug." Now, let's say that the drug costs the manufacturer $30 to may. They are still making a $70 profit. They will have to decide if they want to still make millions selling that drug at the lower price or just not sell it. Many countries put price caps on what pharm companies can charge. The same can be done with actual care. This would allow companies to make a nice profit, medical professionals to get paid well, and prices to come down.

That said, it is going to be hard to do this because about 95% of our elected leaders are in the pockets of these healthcare and drug companies so even if we got a single-payer system there is no guarantee they would force them to lower their prices. Add in massive money coming from health insurance companies that would be put out of business and it makes for a very challenging situation.

In short, there is no guarantee the government would reduce costs. They would have the ability and tools to do so, I just don't know that they would have the guts to actually go through with it.