I am curious, what people think about a national healthcare program. Every other civilized country has one, we are the lone hold out. Sure you have to pay 2k or so in taxes for it, but you save the 6k you would be paying for insurance. We all know that big pharma lobbies hard against it and a certain side of our politics value money more than societal health, but what do you value? Are you in favor of a national healthcare program like in the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Mexico, etc...etc...etc....or should we stay as is? Thoughts? DD
I dunno, from what I have heard the country wants it by a 70-30 split - eventually those things get passed, but not until all the congress people get as much $$$ out of it as possible. DD
Well Medicare is pretty well run, but there are tons of examples of well run programs around the world, none of them perfect, but IMHO all better than our system. DD
National or not we definitely need a health insurance system overhaul that pool a much much larger amount of the population in order to bring system risk and ultimately cost way way down. We need to view health insurance the way we view any normal “commons” like firefighter and police services. Nobody says that pooling our firefighter insurance cost is a bad thing. Right now we are paying out the ass because it’s like everyone has to pay for their own private police officer but with health care. It’s insane. It’s when we start talking about M4A as the only way to do insurance that this conversation goes off the rails. Before you start down the M4A path I think most people agree with my initial premise about health insurance and “commons”.
YES. I had a child born with heart defects that precipitated 7 procedural and/or surgical interventions including patching a few large and dozens of small holes in her heart and building the lower rib cage out of sea coral. All this between ages 3 and 7. Upon HS graduation, she had her heart valve replaced before going off to college 17 years ago. We had good insurance through the university where her mother worked. It still costs us a pretty sizeable penny though. Imagine had we not had good insurance? That's one reason for something universal because there are the unfortunates who do not enjoy the layer of protection that we did. Now my 35 YO daughter and mother of two has to worry about her own health insurance as she can only qualify on a group plan. Fortunately her husband works for a European company in the RTP of North Carolina so, for now, it is not an issue.
The VA pool is disproportionately people with injuries and mental illness. We all know how insurance works here. The larger the pool, the more risk is distributed, the cheaper per individual costs are. So a single payer system just works more efficiently since it's distributing risk amongst the entire tax paying public.
I mean it varies. Before I had my employer based coverage when I was attending school, I used the VA system for basic physicals and some physical therapy for my right leg that had some nerve damage and limited range of motion due to my wounds which fortunately got better over time and they seemed fine. Wait times for appointments were no more than two weeks and the staff seemed competent But then again, I don't know how it works for people who have severe illness or injuries.
The healthcare system as it exists now is a racket meant to line the pockets of insurance providers (it's why cheap stuff like insulin is so stupidly marked up). I really don't like the idea of government controlled anything, but the current system is just that bad. Even most insured people like myself are terrified of getting pre existing conditioned, or any of a million other things our insurance doesn't cover and lead to financial ruination. As is, the current model provides unparalleled medical treatment for the top 10-15%, and a mess for everybody else.
Biggest opposition to universal healthcare coverage are the people who are comfy with their current care and fear everybody having healthcare access would lower their quality It’s what Jesus would have wanted
Both of my parents are very elderly. I manage their affairs, including everything related to healthcare. I will tell you that Medicare is awesome. Whether it’s straight Medicare or a Medicare advantage plan, it’s really really good. Such a relief knowing they won’t have to spend their life savings on medical care. It’s not free, they still spend thousands per year on medical care and medication. But, they get a lot for their money in my opinion. I’m counting down the days until I can go on Medicare. That will be a good day. I have grown to despise the whole medical insurance system that most people are on. Confusing, expensive, unfair, frustrating.
I don’t doubt it can be effective for more basic care and preventative care. It is not very good for more complicated things. I have seen a lot of malpractice from the VA and in a lot of cases over worked medical treaters. The VA is not a model to emulate. I do think that there is a way to have tiered medical care that is universal though.
Agree that is the biggest concern and the reality is that those with really good medical coverage currently likely will get inferior treatment by comparison. I currently have exceptional medical coverage and get some of the best treatment in the world. I have lived outside the USA and have received treatment in various parts of Europe and it isn’t as good (not even close) to what I currently get. Of course I am very lucky and have a level of treatment most in the USA don’t get. Having said that, I have also been uninsured growing up and in my early 20’s and know how bad it can be. Yeah the reality is “Jesus” would support universal care…. But most people aren’t near the piety level of Jesus and don’t live what he supposedly believed in. I will support a quality single payer system and vote for candidates that do…. but I will hold my nose doing so because of the quality of care I currently receive.
