ACA Repeal/Replace: Progressives Face Moral Dilemma

[David Horn]

(08-15-2017, 02:19 AM)Warren Dew Wrote:

(08-14-2017, 03:49 PM)David Horn Wrote:

(08-01-2017, 04:19 PM)Warren Dew Wrote: I myself am in the "not-quite-elderly" category, so I have a strong incentive to give us the best system.  However, the best system is not one that makes us sick and then gives us expensive, counterproductive medical care by bankrupting the next generation.

The best system is one that keeps us healthy.  That involves better diet and lifestyle, not more medical care.  The more money you throw at the medical system, the worse it gets.

OK, but don't have cancer, a stroke, any of a hundred ailments involving internal organs, or a major accident requiring surgeries and rehab.

No worries.  Better diet and lifestyle prevent cancer, stroke, etc.

My wife worked in an oncology practice for roughly 10 years. Lifestyle helps, but it is far from a preventative. Mostly, it made it easier to recover. Yes, lung cancer, and a few others, are mostly lifestyle triggered, but many are due to predisposition, environmental issues (often unknown ones) or to factors not all that well understood at all. I know a guy who had colon cancer on the outside of the colon that metastasized to his liver. He survived because he was otherwise healthy, but he had several operations and chemotherapy for 3 years to get there.

Warren Dew Wrote:

David Horn Wrote:The purpose for insurance is to cover unexpected or preexisting conditions with a structure that permits the affected to get affordable care.  Everybody for himself is not an answer, so pick an option that is.  There are easily 25 of 30 decent models in use somewhere.

Pick whatever option you want, as long as you pay for it yourself instead of trying to get others to pay for you.

Should we follow that model with police and fire protection? Don't laugh, it's been tried. Suffice it to say that those are not viable options. There is no value in having a partially contracted police force, that only enforces the law for those willing to pay. Healthcare is similar, and the cost has to be shared or it won't work. Once you get there, then the only question that remains: how to do it effectively at the lowest possible cost? Everyone else seems to know that.