re: Healthcare- the next great debate

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Huge issue. Serious issue. It’s an America first issue imo. We all need healthcare at some point afterall.

Trump didn’t really run on fixing health care. Interestingly though, He recently tweeted something about being sick of insurance companies making “ Trillions” off of the system. That hints at something that smells like government run healthcare or maybe more regulated insurance system. Hard to know what he really intends.

Obamacare isn’t working but I’m not sure it ever was intended to work. I always thought it was a bridge to single payer, government run insurance. For its failure, it’s increased the number of those insured. It’s just become too expensive so I expect that number will show decline going forward.

I think it’s failure is going to lead to the next big political debate.
The argument comes down to whether or not healthcare is a “right”. Democrats argue that it IS a right. As such, They also argue against the profit motive built into our system in the varied elements from doctors, to pharma, to insurance.

I am a capitalist. I struggle though when it comes to profit motive for healthcare. I’ve had some experience that rubs me the wrong way. Maybe some of you have as well. I also think there’s room for a profit in the system. Comes down to need vs want.

I also struggle with a system that accepts everyone and paying a tax that supports that. I know what that’ll become. A massive political football. An expensive football at that. And most won’t pay a dime but they’ll need the most health “care”. I don’t apologize for not wanting to pay for fhr fatty who smokes, drinks, does drugs and eats like a carny. Accountability will be lost.

With that, I have issues with our genetics.
I’ve spoken to doctors, geneticists and other medical professionals and anecdotally, I’m told that a single payer system in the US could be disasterous. Our genetics are askew. We are a melting pot and with that, we have wierd genetics. That brings wierd illness and disease.
Where single payer works, the genetics are predictable. Maybe European countries have steady genetic profiles. We dont.

Thoughts welcome

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yea I tend to lean towards not having slavery in the country and tend to lean towards not forcing people to provide their labor for free....so I will pass on a single payer system

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Healthcare, like education, has an admin problem. The USA already spends more per capita on healthcare than any other country, by a lot. Most of it goes towards bullshite bureaucracy and leeches. Admins playing shell games with how much your care actually costs and pulling a paycheck for it. Get rid of all that inefficiency between the hospitals and the insurance companies and the cost goes down.

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This guy knows what he's talking about. Nothing drives up cost of health care like useless healthcare administrators.

I think Trump is spot on in wanting to bypass the insurance companies. Insurance have moved so far outside their lane that I believe they are ground zero for this ridiculous system we have today.

I am going out on a limb and guesstimate that the number of paid position working for health insurers and in care offices solely working to process and receive insurance claims far exceeds those providing actual care and exceed the total salary of those providing actual patient care.

I work in a building that is just one regional office in Texas for a health insurer and it is crazy the number of employees working there. Multiply that by all the other insurance companies, all the other state offices, then across all states. It has to be a ridiculous number.

Why is the cash price of care so much less than the cost paid through health insurance? Why do the bills have to be ridiculously high and then discounted down for insurance? When you make work difficult it always becomes more expensive. Anything the government touches is always going to be high priced.

Take out the government, and you take out most of the insurance expenses. Let me have a free market alternative that I will file my own claim and pay my own care. This will open up a new concierge industry that allows individuals to choose who they use to process claims if they do not want to do it themselves.

The OP brings up a great concern and articulated it very well. But I'm afraid your answer (Auburn80) is the only one we have for the foreseeable future.

I personally would love single payer (in an ideal world) but it's not do-able and not viable.

M'care should only be for those who truly cannot help themselves. Not having decent employment alone is not a reason. That sounds tough but that's just life.

M'caid is what it is.

We have to accept that we're just not going to be able to fund these as well as we have in the past (if we can call them "well funded" even in the best of times in the past).

We'll have to make cuts but those cuts should be taken from unnecessary things and given only to the most necessary.

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Single payor healthcare that can control prices

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Unpossible. Single payer will control expenditures by limiting supply.

This is how you limit supply in the NHS:

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How long is the NHS cataract surgery waiting list?
NHS waiting times for cataract surgery can vary based on location and hospital capacity. On average:

The initial consultation can take 4 to 12 weeks
The waiting time for surgery can range from 3 to 12 months after referral
Some patients may wait over a year in areas with higher demand.

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I’ll rephrase, single payor healthcare that can control per capita healthcare expenses. I’m not sure limiting supply is possible or makes sense because we already have the supply.

ACA is working great and exactly how they wanted it. But it wasn’t meant to be great for Americans, it was meant to destroy us, and it’s succeeding.

When people say “they are so dumb, none of their stuff works” etc…

I say “No”, you are wrong.
They are extremely smart, calculated and evil. When we see something as broken or doesn’t work, they see it as JOB ACCOMPLISHED.

When Americans realize that they truly hate our guts and everything pro-American Citizens, then you’ll realize what we are up against.

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With 70% of the adult population being overweight or obese, there is no way that at least some of the posters here who says things like this are not fat themselves.

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I've never been overweight. But over the decades I've noticed that guys working in tough manual jobs like construction got fat after they retired because they didn't reduce their diet to match their inactivity.

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single payor healthcare that can control per capita healthcare expenses. I’m not sure limiting supply is possible or makes sense because we already have the supply.

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I just showed you how per capita expenses are controlled through supply limitations. Salaried GP (general practitioner, or doctor) in the NHS gets paid 76k pounds a year. You don't think that limits the supply of doctors? An ICU nurse at King's college in London pays 45k. My sister makes 3x that here.

The government has no business in healthcare.

Rip out anything remotely associated with healthcare from the government.

After a short period of chaos, the free market will solve the problems.