Paul Ryan: Obamacare repeal is first priority under Trump

And the reason why is the complete lack of accountability with regards to the Federal Government.

 

That's exactly why. It's the reason the VA was allowed to get as bad as it got before any effort was taken to improve it. Vets literally lying in hospital beds with maggots in wounds dying of sepsis. That's just how things are when they are run by the federal government.

 

Hmmm, maybe Congress should give them some funding then?

DD

 

The problem is more than just funding. Throwing money at problems doesn't simply make them go away. Also, it's not like they weren't throwing money at the VA to begin with. The VA funding has risen from 45 billion a year in 2000 to over 120 billion in 2012 and in 2017 it's looking like over 182 billion in 2017.....the elderly vet with maggots in wounds dying at the VA hospital happened just last year. The problem is that there is no accountability and the "good enough for government work" mentality. The knee jerk response of just throwing money at a problem once it gets so bad it starts being noticed by the government is how government programs end up wasting billions without ever fully fixing problems....because a lot of the time the problem stems from the fact that it is government run to begin with.

 

So . . . . What will the replacement look like?

Rocket River

 

They have no plan and shockingly the ACA is now more popular than ever, once the people realized that ACA and Obamacare were the same thing.

DD

 

So nothing good has ever come from government then? Is your solution to then privatize everything?

 

That's not what I said, I said that you never make anything cheaper by having the government take over. It just doesn't happen that way. There are of course some things that we don't mind being ridiculously expensive for the mediocre quality of service we receive like education and criminal justice....I just don't think that healthcare should be one of those things.

Just look at the VA if you want to know what will happen in the long run if we go to a totally government run healthcare system.

 

So the government does everything right then? Is that your solution to then make the government do everything?

Gee strawmen arguments are fun!

 

It's simple. Basic medical coverage for all and the option for private supplements and expanded HSAs.

 

Bobby posted saying that the problem with government run programs is the fact that the government runs them. Does that mean that all government run entities should be privatized? It's not a strawman argument. Again reading comprehension buddy. Nowhere did I saw that government does everything right. Nowhere did I say that the government should do everything either. You created a strawman from nothing.

To your point though, would you say that privatized healthcare in the U.S. is a beacon of success that all other countries should model their healthcare after? Do you think it requires no modifications from government entities?

 

I think that's going to be the plan... but we'll see.

 

Again, big picture. We look around the rest of the world and we see that many of them have evolved from insurance based health care to universal coverage insurance-less health care. Does it have to be exactly government run - no. Can it be - yes.

Our health care system is a failure. And part of that failure is huge inefficency and a middle man that has added very little value, has denied coverage, and does nothing for the patient's health while not capable as a whole to contain costs. It's time to ditch it and move on and evolve.

I know you are against it because you are afraid of government. That's a fair concern and something that should be dealt with carefully, but using fears to trap yourself in a failure is pretty idiotic. We need to move on.

 

Still waiting....

 

And you dodge the question yet again because you have no answer.

 

Answer this question. Why do you think a service that has mostly inelastic demand is a good thing for the consumer in the 'free market'?

 

The answer is already there. You aren't going to acknowledge it though. The US spend more per capital on health care than every nation in the world. More than twice UK. I think close to 3x the Canadian system. If we can get anywhere close to UK and Canada, we will end up saving over the current system. Now, why can't we? Because we refuses to ditch a failing system.

 

No, the answer really isn't there. I'll ask again, when has it ever been the case that having the government take over an industry led to it being more cost effective? Stating that the US spends more than other countries doesn't suggest that it'll be more cost effective after the government takes over and it's not an answer to the question of when the government has ever taken over an industry and made it more cost effective.

It's just you dodging the question because you know that the answer won't support the direction you wish things to go.

 

So you're saying that the US government is particularly ineffective? Because the point that government run healthcare in Europe/Canada is better run/cost effective than the US private systems is a demonstration of the point in general.

 

If you think that it can be done in a more cost effective manner then by all means answer the initial question and point out examples of the government doing things more cost effective than the private sector.