All of this is stupid. Who pays for what is unaffordable is not the solution. Price caps is the solution. In 5 years everyone will discover that this plan and any other still consumes 27% of GDP for rather poor outcomes. All you're arguing about is how to shift the burden of that 27% around when the issue can only be how to reduce that 27% number.
For instance the US is the ONLY price unregulated drug market in the developed world. In every other modern state drug companies are TOLD what they can charge, broadly. US companies will tell you the US subsidizes R&D but that is largely nonsense since there's plenty of R&D in all those other countries too.
Moreover a piece of the problem is that plans cover all sorts of things they perhaps should not. I saw a commercial today for a drug that grows eyelashes. Seriously? If my plan covers drugs that grow eyelashes then I give up. But cardiovascular/COPD exercise rehabilitation isn't generally a covered service. So we pay for eyelashes but not for people to avoid $90,000 heart surgery.
You nailed it with your first point. We are the only developed nation without any price cap on medications, true medication. I have heard R & D for years say well if you cap out revenue, we cannot develop new product. Um, yes you can. Plenty of other countries who are your competitors manage to do it. Also, if capping your medication is such a detriment to your trade, then why is it that say Viagra costs three times what it costs in other countries yet is MADE in this country and all of the R&D is here. Why? Because of insurance and premiums that are willing to pay. Why I should pay for a dudes boner pills and yet get raked over the coals by Congress for my birth control pills is a topic for a different discussion.
Your plan doesn't provide for Lastisse. It is a cosmetic drug that came out of an actual need. Glaucoma. The patients put the drops in their eyes and part of the side affects were longer eyelashes, hence the boom in cosmetic sales of this product and no insurance company covers it for that.
The USPS is the MOST privatized entity in the government. It is a for profit business. The only money they get from the federal government is to pay for oversees military to send letters home, to send letters from the blind and to send in all mail in ballots from the public. Other than that, it is a for-profit entity.
Yet, it's not allowed to go out of business - or it would have a long long time ago.
Sure I have a choice - the problem is the customer service is crappy for all of them. I have had credit cards for about 10 different banks over the last ten years. I have to fix something over the telephone with all of them at one point or antoher. I have never had a call last less than an hour, between the waiting on hold, runnign through the phone tree and getting transferred to the right person.
As far as cable, I have used cable, the phone company and Direct TV. Again, each one "gives me" a four hour window about when they *may* show up to install or fix a problem. Again, no difference that I can see.
But I suppose getting to choose which one of them provides me with crappy service has some value.
Just hilarious you keep mentioning public utilities.
There's a reason why they're called "public" utilities.
i've been out of the loop... other than a coworker *****ing yesterday about how the upholding is going to "ruin the country"... so the meat and potatoes is, if you dont have health insurance you pay at tax, right? isnt that like not having auto insurance gets you a ticket??... is there a reason people are taking this so personally? why is having health insurance so bad? i must be missing something.. cuz it sounds pretty logical to me???
i've been out of the loop... other than a coworker *****ing yesterday about how the upholding is going to "ruin the country"... so the meat and potatoes is, if you dont have health insurance you pay at tax, right? isnt that like not having auto insurance gets you a ticket??... is there a reason people are taking this so personally? why is having health insurance so bad? i must be missing something.. cuz it sounds pretty logical to me???
If the federal government can force you to buy health insurance, what else can it force you to buy?
I'm reading about a lot of Americans saying they want to move to Canada because of Obamacare. While our healthcare is wonderful, I must admit that our system is not "free" like people want to believe. Our government simply does not identify which taxes are used for healthcare and the general public does not know that lotteries also help pay for our health system.
Most of our health funding is paid for by the government. Each province has to make up for whatever the budget does not cover. This is where the taxes come in and three provinces have additional premiums. Medication is very expensive. When Canadians do not have medical coverage, there are provincial drug plans, plans for seniors, along with drug cards for welfare and disability recipients. Dental care has to be paid out of pocket when people do not have coverage. Most dentists are kind enough to lower the price if patients have to pay cash. Colleges and universities also have low cost dental clinics.
My heart goes out to all of my American TAM members. Soon there will be no middle class-only the haves and the have nots. I believe that Obama had good intentions, but the extra tax is pure nonsense during these economic times.
If the federal government can force you to buy health insurance, what else can it force you to buy?
i think i would only complain if i was being "forced" to buy something stupid like... cheese doodles?? that serves no purpose.. but it's hard to make that argument for medical insurance...
i'm forced to pay auto insurance for a 14 year old car with missing handles, an oil leak and a useless parking break.. but i'll go to jail without it.. and if i hit someone crossing the street ... that's why i pay for that crap.
so once they "force" you to buy cheese doodles i'll accept your complaints.. medical insurance is not an equivalent.. so i dont get that comment...?
i think i would only complain if i was being "forced" to buy something stupid like... cheese doodles?? that serves no purpose.. but it's hard to make that argument for medical insurance...
i'm forced to pay auto insurance for a 14 year old car with missing handles, an oil leak and a useless parking break.. but i'll go to jail without it.. and if i hit someone crossing the street ... that's why i pay for that crap.
so once they "force" you to buy cheese doodles i'll accept your complaints.. medical insurance is not an equivalent.. so i dont get that comment...?
I'm sorry you don't.
I guess you're satisfied to trust that the inveterate liars who populate our political establishment have your best interests at heart.
There's a reason for the old saying that "The power to tax is the power to destroy"
If the federal government can force you to buy health insurance, what else can it force you to buy?
In all seriousness here, why is the government forcing you to get health insurance coverage a bad thing? As a fiscal conservative but liberal democrat on other issues, I think this is sound. We currently pay 3-4 times for all the emergency room visits for the uninsured than we would to help defray the cost of some who cannot afford health insurance to get it. The way I see it, nobody is getting their rights trampled on by asking all Americans to get coverage for what currently amounts to an astronomical amount for all us taxpayers.
To me, this isn't a Live Free or Die issue. This is a purely economic one that will save our country billions in the years to come. I fail to see how my "way of life" or my liberties are being squashed because the government has finally said enough, the costs are too high and we must do something about it.
In all seriousness here, why is the government forcing you to get health insurance coverage a bad thing? As a fiscal conservative but liberal democrat on other issues, I think this is sound. We currently pay 3-4 times for all the emergency room visits for the uninsured than we would to help defray the cost of some who cannot afford health insurance to get it. The way I see it, nobody is getting their rights trampled on by asking all Americans to get coverage for what currently amounts to an astronomical amount for all us taxpayers.
To me, this isn't a Live Free or Die issue. This is a purely economic one that will save our country billions in the years to come. I fail to see how my "way of life" or my liberties are being squashed because the government has finally said enough, the costs are too high and we must do something about it.
Couldn't disagree more.
But, thanks for your views.
We elected this guy to make it cheaper, and all he did was expand it and make it more expensive.
We elected this guy to make it cheaper, and all he did was expand it and make it more expensive.
Cite examples then. In what way is having healthcare for everybody going to be more expensive for American taxpayers than the hundreds of billions we currently pay for the uninsured?
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Re: Sonofab***h.....Supreme Court upholds Obamacare 
Soon there will be no middle class-only the haves and the have nots. I believe that Obama had good intentions, but the extra tax is pure nonsense during these economic times.
