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[sarcasm]Because it's worked so well up to now?[/sarcasm]
All the evidence points to the American private system as being the one with the highest increase in the rate of costs. If one really was interested in controlling costs, there are many examples around the world of how that is possible.
Moreover, the CBO says that the Affordable Care Act reduces HC costs. So, you can believe whatever you want but there isn't evidence to support it.
Good lord. Obviously the affordable care act reduces cost (in the private sector!) which is what the CBO report states. The CBO report does not address the extra costs which must be paid by government. Look at the net health care costs of the country. Please re-do your graphs to include the amount of government spending on health insurance under the current system as well as the affordable care act. The extra governmental support is not currently fully funded, which means, at the end of the day, either taxes must increase or more debt must be incurred. So I will say it again - the total cost due will absolutely increase due to health care legislation.
If you want to look at how health care systems 'work' in other countries, take a look at Sweden. On top of government provided health care (which was supposed to dramatically lower costs!) 60% of Swedish citizens but supplemental private insurance because the quality of care under government run plans is so terrible. That is typical for government run health care. Look at the total cost to maintain the same level of care (add in all of the supplemental costs citizens choose to take on, something the CBO conveniently ignores) and you will NEVER find a single country with lower costs in a national system as opposed to a private one.
The healthcare bill did nothing to control costs; it expanded to include more people at subsidized rates.
Now just who pays for that government mandated subsidization ?
It's you via higher premium payments now and probably higher taxes as we get closer to 2014.
Exactly - rates skyrocketed because people were largely insulated from the cost of their care, and from the increases in their cost.
Obama's answer? Force people to be even more insulated from the costs!
Like that cheap high-deductible policy where you pay the first few thousand yourself? Sorry, you can't be allowed to shoulder any of the cost yourself.
The healthcare bill did nothing to control costs; it expanded to include more people at subsidized rates.
Now just who pays for that government mandated subsidization ?
It's you via higher premium payments now and probably higher taxes as we get closer to 2014.
Actually, the cost saving come from the fact that the law mandates that insurance companies by 85% of premiums on HC. That means that 15% is limited to a combination of lobbying, Admin costs, CEO bonuses, etc.
If you want to look at how health care systems 'work' in other countries, take a look at Sweden. On top of government provided health care (which was supposed to dramatically lower costs!) 60% of Swedish citizens but supplemental private insurance because the quality of care under government run plans is so terrible. That is typical for government run health care.
Why don't you compare it to France, which has the best HC in the world and is 1/2 the cost of the U.S. and covers everyone?
Quote:
Originally Posted by hnsq
Look at the total cost to maintain the same level of care (add in all of the supplemental costs citizens choose to take on, something the CBO conveniently ignores) and you will NEVER find a single country with lower costs in a national system as opposed to a private one.
Oh really?
But this is a tangent from the thread which was discredited around post 53. The report in question was bogus.
Actually, the cost saving come from the fact that the law mandates that insurance companies by 85% of premiums on HC. That means that 15% is limited to a combination of lobbying, Admin costs, CEO bonuses, etc.
When the costs go up so does that percentage.
I was seeing 10% increases yearly but last year (Nov 2010) I got a 20% increase in my premiums.
I got a letter saying the increase was due to them having to increase the amount in their pool due to some early obamacare mandates kicking in (expanded coverage to allow child dependents to stay on policies til 26).
Percentage is a misnomer. Didn't your premiums go up ?
Mine is United Healthcare (Texas).
Why don't you compare it to France, which has the best HC in the world and is 1/2 the cost of the U.S. and covers everyone?
Oh, you mean the French system where copays are between 10%-40% and where 92% of citizens have complimentary private health insurance? (both costs of which are commonly left out of statistics).
France's health care system is currently 11% of their GDP (see reference below) which makes it the third most expensive health care system in the world. Or I could talk about the 18% tax that all French citizens pay for health care alone...would you be OK with a tax hike of 18% for health insurance?
I can go into detail about any of these numbers if you want. Or do you want to read a bit more and trust charts from the news a little less before you continue this conversation?
Read this for reference:
Tanner, Michael D. (2008) “The Grass Is Not Always Greener: A Look at National Health Care Systems Around the World” Cato Policy Analysis no. 613.
EDIT:
As I said before - please re-do the graph adding in supplemental insurance costs for countries with nationalized health care. that graph does not include those. You keep ignoring costs spent in the private sector on supplemental insurance in countries with nationalized plans! When you have a new graph which includes that information, let me know.
When the costs go up so does that percentage.
I was seeing 10% increases yearly but last year (Nov 2010) I got a 20% increase in my premiums.
Percentage is a misnomer. Didn't your premiums go up ?
Mine is United Healthcare (Texas).
It's nothing but a perverse incentive for carriers to overpay for treatments and jack up the premiums. By 2014 they'll be so high that 15% will be plenty to cover all the overhead they want.
The few mechanisms that did have a small favorable effect on costs were HSA's, FSA's and high-deductible policy options. So of course we have to eliminate those...
to cover our 320 million people would cost netween 2.5 to 5 rillion dollars A YEAR.
25k-50k to each taxpayer
can you afford that????
The old adage has never been truer - "if you think health care is expensive now, just wait till it's free!".
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