Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The EU has a central bank just like the Federal Reserve. They can create money just as easily as the Federal Reserve can. Instead, EU states have the only proven successful way to raise enough revenue to provide more benefits to more people: regressive tax systems.
That's why it won't work. Hyper-inflationary spirals aren't pretty, not to mention the negative unintended consequences that would occur if the US began significantly devaluing the dollar and continued to do so. The long term effect would be the continuing lowering of living standards.
Would that be the deal you propose? The federal government says to the people: We'll give you health care if the vast majority of you voluntarily accept a significantly lower standard of living?
For the ECB and the Euro, they would have to take on Europe's HC system more as a single entity. i.e. the individual countries would have to become more politically unified like the USA. I hear very unlikely.
I sincerely doubt that the USD would hyperinflate if all our people had HC and HC access. Hyperinflation requires other severe pressures. Like catastrophic country wide destruction, asteroid hit, loss of a major war or some very serious governmental malfeasance, as in Zimbabwe.
Allowing all our people access to HC is hardly lowering living standards!
You pay into Medicare through your whole working life. I say "no."
Obviously, the system would have to be changed.
In other words let the US Government offer a plan for young people for premiums, no freebies here.
Give the private sector some competition.
Many here defend the 3-4% profit margin of the BIG three private insurance companies, but that amounts to billions and billions of dollars for just doing paperwork.
Obviously, the system would have to be changed.
In other words let the US Government offer a plan for young people for premiums, no freebies here.
Give the private sector some competition.
Many here defend the 3-4% profit margin of the BIG three private insurance companies, but that amounts to billions and billions of dollars for just doing paperwork.
For the ECB and the Euro, they would have to take on Europe's HC system more as a single entity. i.e. the individual countries would have to become more politically unified like the USA.
Not so. Just allocate newly created money proportionately. They're not doing that, though. They're using the only proven successful method of generating enough revenue to pay for their government programs and benefits: regressive tax systems.
Should be interesting to note that Scandinavians and Europeans don't complain about paying those higher, regressive taxes, even though the benefits tradeoff they get doesn't even bring them close to US disposable income:
Quote:
Household disposable income includes income from economic activity (wages and salaries; profits of self-employed business owners), property income (dividends, interests and rents), social benefits in cash (retirement pensions, unemployment benefits, family allowances, basic income support, etc.), and social transfers in kind (goods and services such as health care, education and housing, received either free of charge or at reduced prices).
I sincerely doubt that the USD would hyperinflate if all our people had HC and HC access.
If we paid for it by creating money, yes, it would. Total US health care spending (public and private) is about $3.2 trillion/year, and climbing. In contrast, the Federal Reserve has created $3.5 trillion TOTAL since 2008 (8 years).
Not so. Just allocate newly created money proportionately. They're not doing that, though. They're using the only proven successful method of generating enough revenue to pay for their government programs and benefits: regressive tax systems.
Should be interesting to note that Scandinavians and Europeans don't complain about paying those higher, regressive taxes, even though the benefits tradeoff they get doesn't even bring them close to US disposable income: OECD Better Life Index
If we paid for it by creating money, yes, it would. Total US health care spending (public and private) is about $3.2 trillion/year, and climbing. In contrast, the Federal Reserve has created $3.5 trillion TOTAL since 2008 (8 years).
Go ahead and create the USofE, and yours may fly.
We did that in the USA over 200 years ago, and have both monetary and political unity between all our states and share equally one sovereign currency where our Federal Gov't is the monopoly issuer.
Any amount of money can be created if needed. We did it for WW2, we could do it now with proper knowledge, policy and priorities.
Whatever your $3.2T that you mention, you are leaving out that the fact that middle class is already paying the bulk of that today. The added deficit per year will not be $3.2T, although it could be. I would guess though easily it might be in the $100's of B's.
So in 10 years the US National Debt will be $28T instead of a mere $25T. Meh.
But millions more healthy, happy, productive, satisfied and complete people. And of course more medical business and related GDP. Better than a hot stick in the eye or war!
Sorry... I wasn't laughing at those seriously trying to convey a real message vs blanket statements and assertations.
Much of the 'how' this works has been explained, sometimes succinctly, sometimes in payments detail. Oft times, individuals, especially via this medium, with over complicate or over ego a response which can mislead or misconstrue. It wasn't my intent to mock.
The 'healthcare' business, and it is a business, is a very amorphous entity as it touches every sector of the economy and our lives. To often, people try to reduce it to the sound bites heard on political sites, reaffirming their own personal political echo chamber, or use various links as a way to obfuscate the issue.
The subject of the original post was opening up Medicare plans to 'young people'. Sounds simple enough until it's examined from application to delivery, alpha and omega. And it fell on deaf ears, mostly.
So I apologize for the silly as it was super bowl Sunday and I was just having a bit of fun.
The actual reality of healthcare, however, does boil down to 1 simple word: utilization. Now that, how 'we', utilize it, whether a benefit from an employer, a program from the government (Medicare), or a legality from the irs/ACA resulting in the exchange, is the one thing only addressed by organizations that assume the risk. They get called evil, profit machines by denying claims and, if one takes that viewpoint, no rationale conversation can be truly had.
That's not to anoint payors as saints: they are bureaucracies, hence limited and subject to inefficiency. But the motive to keep the lights on, make a profit, does lead to more efficiency than that which is tied to an organization, or an aspect of an organization, in this case the federAL BUDGET, that can make money appear magically and is, to some theorists, not expected to be held accountable for actual accountable fiduciary responsibility.
Thanks for explaining that. How 'bout those Broncos? They were supposed to lose to Pittsburgh, to New England, and to Carolina. Ha!
Another important issue, one I tried to get across, is salary. The way to keep costs down is to pay providers/workers less. That is what is done in a lot of UHC countries, as I tried to show with my link about nursing salaries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stymie13
Btw, your cd namesake was the best figure skater of my lifetime!
Yeah, Weimar Germany and Zimbabwe know all about that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
