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Obie:
Cutting Medicare and Social Security are the agendas of the two Corporate parties.
What you are talking about is the private "Advantage" plans that were grafted onto basic Medicare.
These and the private medicare supplemental plans, that is the private for profit plans placed by the private insurers and their politician allies into Medicare.
These are the elements that private insurers control that drive up the costs of Medicare, and noise is being made to bring them under control. I'll believe it when I see it.
I'd rather see improved basic Medicare (Part A and B),than to waste money on enriching private insurers as we have been doing.
If a giant medicare for all is what it means to be civilized then call me a barbarian. I want to control my own body and its care and maintenance. I want to choose who and how much I pay to do work on my body. I don't want it done by committee, cabinet or worse yet "democracy". It is my body, my choice. Keep the government out of my body. Does this ring a bell with anyone? Does anyone else believe that the government should not get to make policy in or about my body?
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afwjam,
In every country where there is national health care every individual is always free to buy their own health care privately. That would be true in the USA and Hawaii too.
Assume the best and ask questions.
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quote:
In every country where there is national health care every individual is always free to buy their own health care privately. That would be true in the USA and Hawaii too.
American-style "government by highest bidder" blurs the line between public/private.
I would love to be able to buy healthcare without subsidizing the insurance industry -- while this is "technically possible", all pricing is artificially controlled by (you guessed it) insurance, and since there's no liability limit for malpractice, there's also no limit to the premiums my healthcare provider is "required" to pay -- all for the privilege of being told how much the procedure "should" cost.
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To the best of my knowledge anyone can self insure. The rich regularly do so. The problem is that not many can actually afford to do so.... so they buy insurance because it is cheaper.
An uncle of mine self insured. He broke an arm and it cost him $35,000. Great deal.
Assume the best and ask questions.
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Not Hawaii related, but very good article about private insurance in the UK,
http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2012/0...in-the-uk/
Rob you say that, but as you actually know, it wont be possible under the one-payer system as it is not possible now. I am being forced to pay for care I don't want for my body and as a result the market for healthcare is completely distorted beyond the doctor patient relationship. Its my body I should not be forced to pay for care for it I don't want and as a result distort the market of care I do want beyond my grasp. Its like forcing me to shoot myself in the foot, or forcing me to have a baby I don't want. Its my body, stay out of it, you don't have a right to it.
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quote:
Originally posted by afwjam
Keep the government out of my body. Does this ring a bell with anyone? Does anyone else believe that the government should not get to make policy in or about my body?
All you have to do is look at the track record for private insurance companies when you let
them make policy about your body. There are volumes of horror stories about people who were denied coverage, or dropped by their insurance carrier and left to die. If you believe a private medical insurance company doesn't control those decisions about your body you've been very fortunate not to be put in that situation... so far.
My parents recently sent me the bill from when I was born back in the 1950's. It was $15 for a 2-3 day hospital visit. This was at a time when healthcare operated under a stethoscope and aspirin based treatment system. (Well, your hearts still beating so why don't you take two aspirin and call me in the morning.) Self insurance and private insurance worked fine during that era.
Do you use government built highways to drive from Puna to Hilo? You can claim the Keaau to Pahoa stretch of highway is dangerous, and accident prone and you'd be right. But most people still take a chance on driving that road rather than pick up a machete and bushwhack a trail to their destination. Bushwhacking was also a method of transportation that worked fine in it's day. It can still be used today, but it's a difficult choice to defend when there is a better system available.
Government healthcare probably isn't the best system, but a private system that denies coverage and drops policy holders is certainly worse.
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
The market has already been distorted by government meddling. This is the problem I am trying to address. I feel that the reason I can't afford the healthcare I want is because the large insurance companies got in bed with the government. I don't think putting the government entirely in control of my healthcare and my body is going to help. Its my body, the people don't have a right to it.
edit: Our medical technology, especially in America is amazing. With all the advancements in medicine, it should be cheaper then ever to get the care you need. Hell, I can diagnose 75% of the issues I have using the internet, including understanding what to do to fix it and what medicines I may need that I cant ****ing afford except from India and New Zealand for some strange reason.
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Like the Rolling Stones said: You can't always get what you want.
Assume the best and ask questions.
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