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My family plan's full cost is over $24k. This doesn't include co-pays or prescription deductibles. My employer pays a large portion but the employee contribution is still substantial. It is inconceivable that a plan that is nearly 50% of the gross median household income is considered affordable or sustainable.
Large scale corporate employers typically impose higher shared premiums on higher income earners than lower income earners.
Single payer or "Medicare for all" works as long as everyone (or most everyone) is willing to contribute.
Everyone in Germany making between 20-80k pays 8% of their income taxes into the Germany single payer system. The employer pays 7.5%. Essentially a 15.5% health tax.
Can the Democrats (especially Bernie Sanders) convince most of their voting base that they will end up paying MORE under a universal care system?
Germany is fair. Those who make more pay into the system but can opt into a private system.
What the psychological makeup of the US voters especially Democratic US voters is they want to make the other guy pay.
Sorry it just doesn't work this way.
Increase taxes for the vast majority of people. You can have your single payer system.
It goes without saying that in an universal system, all doctors will be required to accept whatever the government pays them. If they don't, they're out of a job, plain and simple. They really need to pass a law immediately forcing doctors to accept Medicare / Medicaid patients, with strict enforcement.
And I don't want to ever hear the words "unfunded liabilities" again - this is the government's way of extorting higher taxes now for "projected liabilities" deep into the future - when a lot of us won't even be alive. What they're really doing is raising taxes so they can pay for their pet projects, just like they did in the '80's when they doubled the self-employment tax and raised the payroll tax (and it was quite significant, too - I can't believe the so-called "conservatives" at the time fell for such a scam.)
Figure out what things costs *now* and adjust the revenue stream to pay for it *now.* Next year, do the same thing. I, for one, will not be suckered into paying more tax which is supposed to take care of these ephemeral "unfunded liabilities" and have them squander it on jets that can't even fly. If I pay more tax, that money had better come back to me.
I am not so far against this personally and professionally, but I can tell you through long experience locally and online that so many docs will buck that that proposal it would never fly in the USA!
IMO a public option where docs can optionally participate would work, leaving the private HC sector relatively alone.
It will take 100% of doctors accepting Medicare-for-All rates and that won't happen.
Yet Germany rations healthcare.
And then there's the matter of future unfunded liabilities for Germany (and all EU States). The need to increase taxes to continue funding Social Welfare programs is very real.
Healthcare is rationed everywhere including in the US. How it's rationed is the difference.
Germany's healthcare outcomes are generally better than the US. Then again, Germany experiences less violence than the US. The German population is not as fat as the US population which means fewer diagnosis of Diabetes, Hear Disease, stroke and some Cancers.
As you know, Germany approaches healthcare differently than the US. Most babies are delivered by midwives in birthing centers, not hospitals. The number of beds per hospital room is larger in Germany. Things like linens, TV and WIFI are extras billed directly to patients. No valet parking. No lattes in the lobby. No ads for prescription meds. No ads for hospitals or healthcare providers. Despite the different approach, their outcomes are better than the US.
Germany is a mixed bag of options. About 80% of the population chooses the public option.
Trump is on Meet the Press this morning talking about Healthcare Insurance.
The basis is requiring states to allow the sale of healthcare insurance across state lines and having hundreds of companies compete in the Individual Plan Market. Sounds great, eh. The devil is in the details.
He does not seem to realize that the ACA gives the states the right to decide what beyond " Essential Services" to mandate. No two states mandate the same thing. Some states don't mandate outpatient surgery. Some states do funky stuff networks vs out of network. Some states allow adult children to stay on their parent's plan beyond age 26. The biggest difference is medications covered or not.
Cost of healthcare is dependent upon Utilization and healthcare provider competitiveness, or lack thereof, of the very local healthcare market. People who live in areas of fewer claims pay less than those who live in areas with a higher claim rate. Those who live in highly competitive healthcare markets pay less than those who live in areas with less competitive healthcare markets.
Then there's the whole in - network deal. Insurers establish network contracts with healthcare providers.
Lastly, every state has unique regulations for insurance.
Trump also made clear, once again, that the government ( not clear if he was talking state or federal) will take care of those who cannot afford insurance.
Wake me up when 50 states agree to federal standards, substantially beyond the ACA and how this will make healthcare insurance more affordable for everyone.
Wake me up when a Congress buys into it.
Silly as 'state's rights' were the direct cause of the Civil War!
States cannot afford to pay for the HC of their people. Period! It takes central moneys, taxes and deficit spending. Moving forward there is no way to pay for all our HC needs without a great deal of new money creation!
Healthcare is rationed everywhere including in the US. How it's rationed is the difference.
Germany's healthcare outcomes are generally better than the US. Then again, Germany experiences less violence than the US. The German population is not as fat as the US population which means fewer diagnosis of Diabetes, Hear Disease, stroke and some Cancers.
As you know, Germany approaches healthcare differently than the US. Most babies are delivered by midwives in birthing centers, not hospitals. The number of beds per hospital room is larger in Germany. Things like linens, TV and WIFI are extras billed directly to patients. No valet parking. No lattes in the lobby. No ads for prescription meds. No ads for hospitals or healthcare providers. Despite the different approach, their outcomes are better than the US.
Germany is a mixed bag of options. About 80% of the population chooses the public option.
I agree!
Many Europeans countries have better eating habits and the rate of obesity is lower than in the states. Hence much less diabetes, stroke, hypertension, etc. They walk more and are less in love with driving. Many people in America are still in love with cars (and guns too). All these things drastically reduce the cost of health care.
Simple medical issues like delivering a baby in a normal pregnancy do not involve an obstetrician. In some areas of the US well trained family doctors cannot do deliveries because of the fear of lawsuits and malpractice insurance which is astronomically high.
Most hospitals are owned by Corporate America and the goal is to maximize profit.
Healthcare is rationed everywhere including in the US. How it's rationed is the difference.
Germany's healthcare outcomes are generally better than the US. Then again, Germany experiences less violence than the US. The German population is not as fat as the US population which means fewer diagnosis of Diabetes, Hear Disease, stroke and some Cancers.
As you know, Germany approaches healthcare differently than the US. Most babies are delivered by midwives in birthing centers, not hospitals. The number of beds per hospital room is larger in Germany. Things like linens, TV and WIFI are extras billed directly to patients. No valet parking. No lattes in the lobby. No ads for prescription meds. No ads for hospitals or healthcare providers. Despite the different approach, their outcomes are better than the US.
Germany is a mixed bag of options. About 80% of the population chooses the public option.
And don't forgot a homogenous population... Although now many of those societies we compare ourselves to are finding similar issues with the refugee influx that we have experienced for quite some time (whether it be healthcare debates, or xenophobia of the citizens, etc...)
Large scale corporate employers typically impose higher shared premiums on higher income earners than lower income earners.
I've never experienced this and I've worked for several large corporations. Employee contribution was always flat rate based on the category (employee, employee plus spouse, employee plus child(ren), employee plus family, etc)
And don't forgot a homogenous population... Although now many of those societies we compare ourselves to are finding similar issues with the refugee influx that we have experienced for quite some time (whether it be healthcare debates, or xenophobia of the citizens, etc...)
But!!!!!!!!!!
A European has healthcare for just being a citizen of his native country. Two hundred years from now historians will look at this era in the US and will say we were barbarians by not considering healthcare a simple component of citizenship. Health care should be like having running water and electricity in your home. The latter was unthinkable and unimaginable 200 years ago. Think about it!
Do you honestly believe an advanced non-barbaric society should view health care as we do?
Do you realize that if you need medical care in France all they would require from you is your name and age? This is true even in places that we consider less developed such as Costa Rica and Uruguay. As an American visitor they will gladly take care of you no questions asked.
A European has healthcare for just being a citizen of his native country. Two hundred years from now historians will look at this era in the US and will say we were barbarians by not considering healthcare a simple component of citizenship. Health care should be like having running water and electricity in your home. The latter was unthinkable and unimaginable 200 years ago. Think about it!
Do you honestly believe an advanced non-barbaric society should view health care as we do?
Do you realize that if you need medical care in France all they would require from you is your name and age? This is true even in places that we consider less developed such as Costa Rica and Uruguay. As an American visitor they will gladly take care of you no questions asked.
They also have a far more regressive tax structure just for being a native of their respective countries.
American liberals are brainwashed retards. There is no such thing as "free" and there is no such thing as unicorns and rainbow happy land.
There is nothing wrong with the concept of universal healthcare. For it to work, every citizen has to pay. It's not that hard.
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What they're really doing is raising taxes so they can pay for their pet projects, just like they did in the '80's when they doubled the self-employment tax and raised the payroll tax (and it was quite significant, too - I can't believe the so-called "conservatives" at the time fell for such a scam.)
