So I ask again, is this a joke?

If not, can you (as someone who never has to be concerned about affording healthcare) please explain to me why this is better for me than a single payer system that has been proven effective in over a dozen other countries?

And I can't stress enough that this is a *good* scenario. Five years ago I couldn't even afford the cheapest plan my employer at that time offered and as a single parent, I was told I made too much for my kid to get Medicaid. I lived in fear of every actually needing to use my insurance

*Then* I have to hope there's a specialist near enough to me that also happens be in my insurance network. If I can pull that off, then my out of pocket caps at a mere 4% of my gross. If I have to go out of network and the insurance company agrees to cover it, that balloons to 8% of my gross

4 years ago the same coverage was 16% of my gross. It didn't get better or cheaper, I just managed to wrangle a better position for myself. And what does this buy me? Not only do I need to see a PCP before I'm allowed to see a specialist, I have to convince the insurance company that it's worth it

Is this a joke?

I'm not being facetious, I genuinely want to know if you're being serious here.

I have *good* employer sponsored insurance and I make a decent wage for my area (still less than you make in a day... but I digress) so I'm lucky in that only 7% of my gross income goes towards premiums