Affordable and good quality healthcare is a problem which has been figured out dozens of times successfully.
Unfortunately single payer healthcare would cut out quite many rich middle men from the revenue stream. In English: Never ever going to happen in U.S.
Capitalism is BOSS when it comes to discretionary products/services for the middle class or richer. Capitalism SUCKS for necessary products/services for the poor. When tf are we going to understand Capitalism sucks for healthcare?!
We shouldn't be driven by a profit motive for sick and/or poor.
Can you talk about the kafkaesque nightmare that is Prior Authorizations in healthcare? We need more visibility on this topic. They should be banned for any med/procedure under $1000
I agree 100% but the whole "you need to ask doctors how much it's going to cost" is not reality. I've done it many, many times and they have no clue and/or refuse to answer. I've never once gotten a real answer. This isn't a problem individuals can solve. We need regulation.
I get that. It's still very frustrating though that it basically takes hours of work to figure out what we are paying out of pocket for simple procedures. Or often getting hit for 'lab fees' on a doctor's office visit. The system is broken.
ETA: This proposal entirely fails to recognize the way insurance pre-ACA was more expensive for women of child-bearing age, and that young women don't have the same luxury to "opt-out" that young men do. Just such a spectacularly bad take.
Just fucking nationalize it already like the rest of the modern world. I'm so incredibly tired of being the idiots running the race backwards then wondering if maybe better shoes will help us win while still running backwards.
OK idea except that it doesn't take into account the fucked up medical billing practices. Without health insurance, some standard procedure will be billed $2300. But insurers have cut deals with these practitioners so that WITH health insurance, that procedure will ultimately cost the insurer $150.
This is like saying plastics are fine because consumers can recycle. Unfortunately, that's not how things work in the real world.
There are working models for lower cost healthcare. If you really want to kick the healthcare industry in the nuts we could adopt one of those systems.
As a family with three Type 1 diabetics (myself and both boys, diagnosed at 6 and 8) healthcare to live is exorbitantly ridiculous that dominates our lives. IMO universal healthcare is the only rational answer moving forward at some point, but when who knows, we are simply behind the genetic 8 ball.
Except… physicians employed by hospitals and IDNs (which is now the majority of physicians) don’t know how much anything costs. We are paid by RVUs earned per patient seen. I absolutely agree that healthcare is too expensive and needs an overhaul, but let’s direct the outrage appropriately.
$330,000 isn’t nearly enough. One minor surgery plus standard medical exams over one year, and that money is gone. When healthcare is a for-profit industry, no one short of a billionaire can truly save enough in this system. Universal healthcare is the only way to serve all Americans.
I had numerous conversations with my parents back when the ACA was passed (they were in their 60s, me in my 40s). I sad then that if the healthcare industry were a car without an engine, the ACA repaired a broken fender and called it good.
All this time later I stand by that analogy.
Comments
Unfortunately single payer healthcare would cut out quite many rich middle men from the revenue stream. In English: Never ever going to happen in U.S.
We shouldn't be driven by a profit motive for sick and/or poor.
It is a complete scam. Health insurance should be NOT for profit.
There are working models for lower cost healthcare. If you really want to kick the healthcare industry in the nuts we could adopt one of those systems.
Provide the baseline healthcare required to keep people happy and healthy and let the free market take the rest. It's not that difficult.
All this time later I stand by that analogy.