Switching to a single-payer system, in which the government would cover the costs of necessary medical care, involves considerably more than just replacing insurance companies with bureaucrats. Once the state becomes the only insurer, it raises more pointed questions about who should be covered and for what types of care, how much the state should pay for treatments, how to hold down costs, how to finance the healthcare system, what alternatives, if any, consumers should have.
Source: “Los Angeles” – Google News