Big Lies

[David Horn]

(02-16-2017, 12:44 AM)Classic-Xer Wrote: We need this new tax and we'll need more of that tax on top of all the other taxes that we pay in order to pay for it. The government is only paying for a percentage of the population (the ones who are 65 and over and the ones who don't have squat to their name) and subsidizing heath insurance costs for those making about minimum wage. Dude, this is what you have to do for me and everyone like me who already has health insurance paid for by themselves, by their employers, by their unions and by their parents. You have to get rid of the majority of the politicians currently residing in Washington. You have to pass a bunch of laws with really nasty punishments for future corrupt politicians, You have to pass term limits and a balanced budget amendment. After that, the government would have to show us over several years that the government can function as a whole and manage OUR money properly before we would even consider it.

Blah, blah, blah.  Let's agree to be not-stupid for a minute, and look at this from the other side.  How much should it cost to provide healthcare for all?  The US is far and away the most expensive healthcare market in the world.  Why is that?  A lot has to do with the power of the providers: doctors, heath corporations and big pharma.  A lot has to do with skimming: insurance companies and the like.  The logical conclusion to getting better and more cost efficient care is to steal with pride.  The best systems in the world are France and Italy.  The cheapest good systems are the UK and Japan.  Literally all of the advance countries do vastly better than we do on both cost and quality ... all of them.  If you wish to look even further, try India, with decent quality and extremely cheap prices.

But for god's sake, ignore the siren call of the market that simply doesn't exist and can't exist.  How can there be a market in any place smaller than a city of enough size to allow real competetion?  Sorry, but buying your health services from a remote provider is a non-starter.  Forget emergency care.  How about the much more common chronic care that involves regular trips to the doctor, and support from hosptials, clinics and laboratories?  A larger city has several, but elsewhere, not so much.  Then there is the basic issue of buying what you need, but only what you need.  Are you ready to DIY your medical research?  After all, once a provider has you inside his or her practice, upselling in a low-price market is a given.  It's already that way today, and we have gatekeepers to prevent that.

So back to my first paragraph: why reinvent the wheel when great wheels are already developed, tested and better than anything we have now?