

Obligatory “not American” warning, but I think the problem is more complex than just making the government a customer. Countries with public healthcare generally don’t refer to private providers because the cost is orders of magnitude higher than a state run operation. (With few exceptions; my country paid for me to go to a private hospital once because I needed a specialist for something uncommon, and there weren’t enough in public hospitals / I was overspill.)
You don’t just have hospitals, you have an entire economy of insurance, administration, and severely inflated pricing to account for all the useless jobs and bloat. If none of that goes away, then I don’t see why the government would be incentivised to use them, rather than just set up state hospitals.
Also, unrelated but I just re-read the title; does Dr Oz still have any credibility whatsoever?








I really don’t disagree about the government’s currently delusional priorities. None of those things are better, or even good uses of taxpayers’ money. I suppose it would be an expedient way to make use of already existing healthcare facilities and staffing, at least in the interim before they can start gradually streamlining.
My comment was influenced by my mentality as someone who does live in a(n actual) welfare state, but I’m sorry I was so ignorant about it!