Originally Posted by
anonamoose
Let me lay some truth bombs on everyone since it appears the majority of this website is 50+ years old and stuck in 1974.
The estimates for medicare for all's cost is all everyone is focusing on. They're completely ignoring the fact that:
a. You can still buy private insurance if you really want to, and yes it will be costly, and yes those companies will pay taxes earning some of the money back. The quality of care might be a little bit better and a bit more private but it will be suitable for all people that don't regularly drink martini's with gold flakes in them.
b. The per capita spending on healthcare in the US is approaching (or has past) $10,000 USD per year. If we cut that in just half by implementing universal health care that brings a yearly savings of about $1.75 trillion. At the $32 trillion estimate that puts at about a net loss of $1.5 trillion per year. But wait! that's $1.75 trillion dollars back in the pockets of the american citizens that will take that money and spend it on stupid shit, because you all know you do, which will then be taxed and probably 20% of that will come back. Meaning a net loss per year of only $1.15 trillion (and remember again, these are all estimates and personally I think the $32 trillion number is just silly in reality loss will probably be around $500 billion per year). But wait there's more!
c. Once this is well established the costs will probably go down with respect to inflation as there will be a stronger hold on the pharmaceutical industry. I think all parties can agree, other than people who work for pharmaceutical companies, that they're the biggest crooks in all of this. So in reality, I would guess that within 50 years it would actually be profitable to USA to implement universal healthcare.
Lulz do you actually believe what you wrote here?
a. Literally, there will become two classes of care. Private care and public care, this happens anywhere in the world where both are open. Guess what happens? You have two classes of people, people who receive care timely and at a higher standard and those made to wait and receive a lower quality of care.
b. Lulz half ..... FUCKING lulz .... FUCKING HALF hahhahahahahahahahaahahahahahhahaha. United Healthcare the largest insurance company in the world operates on 5% net margins. 5%!!!!! 5 FUCKING PERCENT. You are talking about reducing average spend from $10,000 to $9,500 or what you are talking about doing is changing reimbursements to Doctors to Medicare levels. Which basically means paying Doctors, Nurses, CNAs, administrators, Medical Asisstants, etc. etc etc a lot less, also while putting a half million insurance company workers out of work. So Doctors, RNs, etc the best people in those fields will find jobs in the future doing something else because the pay will be lower, plus you will raise unemployment in the country by .4% right now. Don't forget the long term ramifications of having stupider people provider care because the smartest people will go to Silicon Valley or investment banking or something else. Long term effects would be reduced innovation, reduced quality of life and reduced life span.
c. Lulz if you think putting significant price controls on pharma companies will still create innovation. R&D will tank, we will have less new drugs, the world will become sicker.
Now, do you want a real plant to solve the health care crisis in America? How about working on a health bill.
You see Obamacare, Medicare For All, etc. these are fucking tax and who is going to pay for it bills, they aren't health bills.
The only thing that fixes costs in America is to pass a health bill. You can't fix high insurance costs if you don't fix the fatty problem. We got a lot of fatties, a crazy amount of fatties. Type 2 diabetes alone makes up more than 20% of healthcare costs in America. Some estimates when you include secondary causes put that number near 50%. Also, you see $60-70 billion in lost worker productivity due to the fatties missing work because of being sick.
If you want to fix insurance and sky high health care costs fix the fatties. Here's a simple guide to fixing the fatty problem.
1. Start teaching health from Elementary school on.
2. Provide kids more organized time around health, learning Columbus to the Civil War every year from K-8th grade has no value, but spending 30 extra minutes per day working out has a lifetime net positive on a kids outcome.
3. Get the Ag industry out of nutrition policy and create a health pyramid that is actually healthy (mostly protein and vegetable based)
4. Tax incentivize getting healthy (deductible gym memberships, bonus deductions for losing weight and keeping it off)
5. Tax penalize those who make no effort to get better (reduced Medicaid / Medicare benefits, fatty tax, etc.)