Bidens first threat to America. Bring back Obummer care.

[Evangelicalhumanist]

"Should" is the operative word.
I dislike this hodgepodge, with all these separate
complex & inadequate government programs.
Sumthin tells me that government is ill equipped
to design something I'd like during my lifetime.

Then you must be old! With the models already available, they could design it by a week Tuesday. They just can't get new ideas through the thick hide of the elephant party.

 

[Revoltingest]

Then you must be old! With the models already available, they could design it by a week Tuesday. They just can't get new ideas through the thick hide of the elephant party.

The problem is that we have politicians designing it.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Our system is unnecessarily complicated, no doubt. My partner just went to see a spinal specialist today, as he'll likely need surgery. For him to get the appointment, a second referral had to be placed by his primary care doc (even though he's already seen this specialist...). Specialist recommended he sees a surgeon, so she placed the referral for that as well as an order for a fresh MRI, both of which now have to be approved by the primary, for some reason? And then be approved by insurance. Just to schedule. And then who knows how long it'll be before he's actually seen, or beyond that how far out surgeries are booking. Sigh.

Living in Canada, when I needed spine surgery, my family physician ordered an MRI. When it came back, she referred me to a neurosurgeon, who I saw the following week. He looked at the MRI (he got it online from the source), and said, "I can do you Thursday." And that was it. No insurance. No begging governments to permit. Nothing at all. The doctor had the authority in himself to do the surgery, knowing that the government (single payer system) would pay the bill.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

But then we are still left with the problem of a broken healthcare system. Something still needs to be done.

Here are some things to consider:
1. No one can afford to self-insure for healthcare except the very rich. None of us know at birth what chronic illness or disease may befall us in our lifetime. We all must have insurance.
2. The larger the pool of participants in a system, the lower the administrative cost per person, the lower the overall premium charged per person as the many relatively healthy fund the chronically or severely ill. Since none know whether chronic illness is their fate, it is best that all participate equally.
3. Take out the middlemen, insurance companies and employers. With employer based healthcare, the employee is at the whim of the employer as to the quality of insurance provided. In the last several years, employers have continued to shift rising insurance costs by increasing the employee's share of the cost burden in terms of increased employee premium share, deductibles, and co-payment amounts. If there is universal healthcare on a Medicare model, funding and features of healthcare are controlled by congress who are then beholden to the voters. What better way to ensure quality healthcare than to make it dependent on a politicians career?
As to insurance companies, if everyone is under one system, there is automatic reduction in administrative costs and profit margins.
4.Fund national healthcare as a sales tax. Everyone participates in the economy, and to have a small tax related to your share of healthcare premiums means everyone is paying for healthcare, whether they are here legally or not.
5. We know epidemiologically and actuarily that certain behaviors can increase risk of injury and morbidity. Sales tax on related items, such as alcohol and tobacco for example, could be higher. This has the two-fold effect of having those engaged in risky behaviors, pay for that higher risk activity, and then having to pay more may moderate that activity and result in changed behavior that lowers morbidity and chronic illness associated with that high-risk activity.

It's time to scrap it all and re-build from the ground up.

Good post, and I like how you point out that a national healthcare system, funded through taxes, drastically reduces the admin costs per person. And of course, government doesn't require profit margins, so that reduces costs by 15% right off the top.

(So-called "sin taxes" are a pretty good way to start funding this sort of thing. Cigarettes, booze, fatty-snax and deep-fried-take-away-everything.)

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Yes, but this is never going to happen because massive profits are being gained from this screwed up system. And the people making all that money are using it to bribe our politicians to make sure those big profits keep rolling in. It's why Americans are paying double for a crappy health care system compared to all the other modern nations with good, universal health care systems. The U.S. health care system is just another money pump for the rich. Like nearly every other aspect of survival in our modern society is (energy, communication, transportation, education, housing, ...).

But so many other countries managed to do it -- and they also had people earning profits from the misery of others to contend with. How could they manage it, and the US can't?

By the way, in Canada, insurance companies figured out that they could provide coverage for "Private and semi-Private" hospital care, where the government system provides just ward care. And other things, for those who like their comfort, on top of merely first-class healthcare. So they still collect premiums.

 

[sun rise]

The U.S. is ranked 15th in the world in terms of the quality of its health care.
So the complaints come when you compare the U.S. to other "comparable" countries (e.g. the top ten in the world), who, of course, the U.S. ranks behind.

I was thinking in terms of some specifics such as infant mortality. The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency

I think reason health care reform fails in the U.S. is that, in general, the cost of health care in the U.S. is too high. The U.S. spends nearly twice as much on health care as comparable high-income countries. And the answer is not as simple as trying to adopt a similar system to those other countries.

There's a lot of organizations making a lot of money that are not related to providing health care but sitting in the middle.

One thing that someone advocated is real competition. If I need some common surgery such as a knee replacements, let me know the fixed cost and success rate from a number of providers. Give me a financial incentive to choose the cheapest that has a great record. In other words, let's have some real competition.

Of course that does not apply to a lot of situations, but many things from common tests such as MRI to standard surgery is amenable to that approach.

In addition, let's stop the pharma gouging of us. They manage to do OK selling drugs at a much lower prices to everyone else. It's time to stop the rip off of Americans.

The problem is that we have politicians designing it.

This is not something brand new and hard to deal with. We could easily study Canada's and Europe's systems and pick the best one perhaps tweaking it a bit. Personally the Swiss system which is not cheap is probably our best best because it allows health insurance companies to exist. It's not ideal but theoretically the right should like it because it's a business not government focused system.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Yeah! If you weren't smart enough to inherit daddy's money and can't afford your insurance, you don't deserve healthcare.

Your concern for you fellow humans is, um, a titch less than impressive.

Yea! Charge them a mint by making deductibles into the thousands and then claim its affordable in comparison! Those suckers can't tell the difference between healthcare and insurance scams. They will never know they been had, so you just make them think they are insensitive towards the wellbeing of their fellow man and woman! Bwhahaha!! Profit!

 

[PureX]

But so many other countries managed to do it -- and they also had people earning profits from the misery of others to contend with. How could they manage it, and the US can't?

Every other nation with good universal health care achieved it by setting prices. That's how they limited the price-gouging for life-sustaining products and services. Anyone politician who even dares to mention capping prices (and therefor profits) in the U.S. will be publicly eviscerated as a crazed communist, fascist, freedom-hating, lunatic by an industrial strength propaganda machine owned and controlled by the wealthy elites that are currently profiting from our current 'capitalist' health care system.

By the way, in Canada, insurance companies figured out that they could provide coverage for "Private and semi-Private" hospital care, where the government system provides just ward care. And other things, for those who like their comfort, on top of merely first-class healthcare. So they still collect premiums.

Yes, many countries have allowed for the rich to buy themselves better treatment. But the important thing is that everyone gets good, essential treatment at a cost that the country can afford.

 

[oldbadger]

Yea. Like we need to go through that all over again.

Biden’s Planned Health-Care Law Reboot Could Stall Under GOP-Controlled Senate

Well thats pretty much the first 4 years. Brace yourselves, we are going to ride that pathetic rollercoaster all over again it seems.

Remember back a bit?


Biden vows to bring back Obamacare's individual mandate penalty for not having insurance

No unconstitutional mandate! No!

Hi......

Everybody should be completely protected by a Health System for all, regardless of their wealth or abilities to pay towards it.

The fact that Republicans smashed up all hopes for Obamacare cannot dim that need.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Hi......

Everybody should be completely protected by a Health System for all, regardless of their wealth or abilities to pay towards it.

The fact that Republicans smashed up all hopes for Obamacare cannot dim that need.

Hi....

Nobody should be levied compulsory and predatory insurance costs that cannot ever be removed or settled.

The fact that Democrats smashed up all hopes for a proper and fair healthcare system cannot dim that need.

 

[oldbadger]

Hi....

Nobody should be levied compulsory and predatory insurance costs that cannot ever be removed or settled.

I already covered that. People who don't have the means should receive full healthcare freely. Any wealthy nation should be able to provide that.

The fact that Democrats smashed up all hopes for a proper and fair healthcare system cannot dim that need.

It was them! Look at them!
Us? Not us! We're wonderful...... it was them!

Typical tribal nonsense, I call that.
We heard how President Obama's attempts were smashed up by Republicans....... we know.

Look, if you can't provide quality healthcare for all then you're just a richer version of something very third world.