Medicare For All

[cpp]

Problem: Costs are too high.
Bernie: Untie the governments hands. Remove the law forbidding negotiating for better pricing.
Also Bernie: Eminent domain patents that are abused.

Bernie never in any of his "runs" ever addressed how giving free health care will be paid for by the Fed Govt. Americans’ taxes would have to change to pay for this kind of proposal. But it’s impossible to tell who would pay significantly more for their coverage and who would pay less, and by how much. This is a crucial part of any health care plan, and in the Sanders proposal, it is notably absent.

 

[Trell]

Bernie never in any of his "runs" ever addressed how giving free health care will be paid for by the Fed Govt. Americans’ taxes would have to change to pay for this kind of proposal. But it’s impossible to tell who would pay significantly more for their coverage and who would pay less, and by how much. This is a crucial part of any health care plan, and in the Sanders proposal, it is notably absent.

All other developed countries in the world have universal health care of some kind, but USA is somehow unable to finance it? You pay over twice as much (per GDP) than other countries with a subpar health outcome, and is a clear example of not how do do things.

At least with President Biden you got this: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/opinion/pharma-tax-avoidance-trump.html

>>>About pharma: The U.S. health care system, unlike health systems in other countries, isn’t set up to bargain with drug companies for lower prices. In fact, until the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act, even Medicare was specifically prohibited from negotiating over drug prices. As a result, the U.S. market has long been pharma’s cash cow: On average, prescription drugs cost 2.56 times — 2.56 times — as much here as they do in other countries.<<<

Of course, this must be socialism of some kind....

 

[cpp]

All other developed countries in the world have universal health care of some kind, but USA is somehow unable to finance it? You pay over twice as much (per GDP) than other countries with a subpar health outcome, and is a clear example of not how do do things.


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Well from what I gather from a lot of Canadians that live around me, its not free. And according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information in 2022 it cost about two-thirds of all personal income. .In 2018 The most recent Commonwealth Fund survey showed that 9% of older Canadians have problems getting care because of cost. These neighbors have become US Citizens, why, they can get treated in a timely manner


Reading in a recent ariticle. Canadians pay out-of-pocket health costs close to what Americans pay, yet Canada’s tax burden is 36 percent to 51 percent higher than America’s. These extra taxes are largely driven by government health care costs. Despite this tax burden, government rationing via “global budgets” leaves Canadians to face long waiting lists, shortages of equipment, outdated drugs, and endemic staff shortages. Meanwhile, Canada’s public system covers only marginally more than what the public system in the U.S. covers: One-third of health care spending in Canada is private; in the U.S., it is half. Because Democrats’ proposed benefits are far more extensive than Canada’s single-payer system, they would likely therefore be far more expensive, and even more distortionary to quality of care.https://www.heritage.org/health-care-reform/report/how-socialized-medicine-hurts-canadians-and-leaves-them-worse-financially

Sure the US health is nuts, expensive but you can get treatment when you need it instead of waiting at times months to see a doctor or to have surgery. Our neighbior who has dual citizenship, was waiting months for a hip replacement in Canada, so he came to his Fla locatioin for the summer, saw his doctor here, and had his hip replacement performed two weeks ago. He said he was tired of the BS and waiting, sure he could afford the cost, but its was the waiting that ticked him off.

 

[Ponzio]

Really? In a timely fashion? This year alone, on average, I've been told ... regrettably I have quite a few health issues ... that there's a month to two month's waiting list to see a Plain Jane internal medicine doctor just to refill some standard maintenance med's.

When I requested a virtual appointment to speed up the process I was denied a refill(s) until I physically go into their office, since they hadn't see me in a year. Never mind that they have access to all my recent and past blood work for comparison, since nothing has changed. And to rub some more salt in the wound, I was told that next time I should call in two to three months ahead of time, since "everybody knows that sir".

When I countered with, "well, what if I have a true medical issue or need these med's to maintain my current health status from deteriorating?". She blithely told me to "just go to the ER".

I was too gob-smacked/pissed to continue the conversation. BTW, I called the practice back about an hour later, assuming I got an irate employee, who was having a 'bad hair' day.

Nope, I got the same response from a different appointment scheduler. Unfu ... real.

Timely my a$$!

 

[mtrycrafts]

Really? In a timely fashion? This year alone, on average, I've been told ... regrettably I have quite a few health issues ... that there's a month to two month's waiting list to see a Plain Jane internal medicine doctor just to refill some standard maintenance med's.

When I requested a virtual appointment to speed up the process I was denied a refill(s) until I physically go into their office, since they hadn't see me in a year. Never mind that they have access to all my recent and past blood work for comparison, since nothing has changed. And to rub some more salt in the wound, I was told that next time I should call in two to three months ahead of time, since "everybody knows that sir".

When I countered with, "well, what if I have a true medical issue or need these med's to maintain my current health status from deteriorating?". She blithely told me to "just go to the ER".

I was too gob-smacked/pissed to continue the conversation. BTW, I called the practice back about an hour later, assuming I got an irate employee, who was having a 'bad hair' day.

Nope, I got the same response from a different appointment scheduler. Unfu ... real.

Timely my a$$!

Well, isn't that timely?
Maybe in Canada they wait even longer?