High cost for health care in America

  • Thread starter Thread starter JoeShlabotnik
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Are answers based on whether one has health care or is reliant on ACA as primary insurance?
 
CatholicSooner said:
I understand where you are coming from but from what I’ve read, studies show that Americans, health wise, are not better off than other countries.

So I don’t think that “you get what you pay for” is applicable. We aren’t healthier, we aren’t living longer, etc.
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Aha, but that begs the question whether it is healthcare that is the issue, or other factors. Healthcare isn’t the only factor affecting overall health. It’s likely to be a pretty small factor compared to other characteristics, actually, as it’s purely a reactive thing.
 
As long as the bottom line is the bottom line, drug costs in America will be the highest in the world.
 
Balto1 said:
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JimR-OCDS:
Healthcare costs are the result of the “For Profit,” healthcare system we have, which is out of control
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Yup. Medicare for all is the only way out.
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Medicare has unfunded liabilities to the tune of $38T. Where is the money going to come from?

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/articl...ed-liability-386t-or-328404-each-us-household
 
Where does the money come from for defense?
If a person is bankrupted through the costs of health care for a disease they have, do you think they care whether we have enough weapons to protect the country?
 
The argument I’ve heard that seems applicable: There are (3) desires people have about healthcare, and you can only have (2):
  • universal coverage
  • low cost
  • high quality
Its impossible to get all three…so which 2 do you want?
 
JoeShlabotnik said:
Where does the money come from for defense?
If a person is bankrupted through the costs of health care for a disease they have, do you think they care whether we have enough weapons to protect the country?
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We operate in a budget deficit right now…when we overspend on defense, it becomes a budget deficit. Medicare does not hit the budget…when we overspend on that, we end up with an unfunded liability. The unfunded liabilities dwarf our reported debt.

Get rid of defense all together…it won’t cover the costs / unfunded liabilities of medicare
 
This is America. The American mantra has always been if there is a will, there is a way.
 
The “way” has kind of been already chosen: Don’t pay the full cost of services. This is why some doctors don’t accept Medicare.

What we have is not just a moral problem, its a math problem as well. The options are: reduce coverage, raise prices, or lower quality. Actually, there are also a few other options to deal with the unfunded liabilities: default on payments, force doctors to work for less…I’m sure there are others.
 
?? DO You imagine drug companies in Canada don’t care about their profits
 
The fact is that the drug companies in Canada make a profit. They just don’t rake in all the money that American companies do here for the same drugs.
Health care, as a whole, costs much less around the world, but because our system is predicated on maximizing profits and minimizing care, we pay much more for much less.
 
NO, the reason to stick with the present program is to make money.
 
JoeShlabotnik said:
The fact is that the drug companies in Canada make a profit. They just don’t rake in all the money that American companies do here for the same drugs.
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It’s pretty much the same drug companies in Canada as America, so that’s not the reason.

The reason is the same drug companies have been able to buy influence and install favorable regulations in the USA. Where in Canada they have competition which has lowered their drug prices.
 
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I can’t argue with you there.
I do not in Europe, the governments negotiate prices with the drug companies. Maybe that is the same thing in Canada?
 
CatholicSooner said:
So I don’t think that “you get what you pay for” is applicable. We aren’t healthier, we aren’t living longer, etc.
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Just because we aren’t healthier or living longer doesn’t mean it’s the result of our health care system or insurance. Americans simply do not take care of themselves. Just look at the long lines at the fast food restaurants and the congestion at the processed food aisles of Walmart.

Some want the nanny state to care of them, but the day of reckoning will come when they will decide what’s best for your life against your wishes. Personally, no thanks.
 
JoeShlabotnik said:
I do not in Europe, the governments negotiate prices with the drug companies. Maybe that is the same thing in Canada?
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Contracts to supply drugs for specified time periods are tendered by provinces or by groups of provinces.
aper1 said:
Just look at the long lines at the fast food restaurants and the congestion at the processed food aisles of Walmart.
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I see it too. There is more demand for cookies & cake than there is for accessible healthcare.
 
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