Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future

by Martin Ford

A single-payer system is, in practice, always assumed to be run by the government, but in theory this does not have to be the case. Another approach might be to merge all private insurance companies into a single national corporation, which would then be heavily regulated. The model would be the original AT&T before it was broken up in the 1980s. The central idea here is that health care is in many ways akin to the telecommunications system: it is, in essence, a utility. Like water and sanitation systems or the nation’s electrical infrastructure, the health care system does not stand alone—it is a systemic industry whose efficient operation is critical to both the economy and society. In many cases, the provision of a utility service leads to natural monopoly scenarios. In other words, it is most efficient if only a single firm operates in the market.