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Yes. What is frustrating me is that it seems we have citizens who have decided what UHI should beand so they are eager, yay, rabid to get others to get on that UHI bandwagon . . . What they don't realize is . . . the train is out there, yes . . . and the ticket they bought may say "UHI" but when they reach their destination, they are gonna be left standing there, scratching their heads and saying "Wait a minute! I bought a ticket for universal healthcare - and what I got was rationed healthcare!!!!"
As long as someone else is paying for them they don't care what they get. I don't know how the idea of entitlements became so pervasive in this country. When did people think they should get whatever they want because they exist..
All healthcare is rationed? No, sir, it is not. You can get all the healthcare you want - if you can pay for it.
Of course, it is STILL rationed even under a private system. Read your elementary economics textbook again! (The "free market" rations by the prices of goods and services!) The problem today is that the "private sector" health care industry hasn't done a very good job of organizing itself to operate in the public interest. The government has allowed there to be too few players, too many kinds of STRUCTURAL inefficiences that lead to waste of resources (such as doctors prescribing unnecessary tests at clinics which they themselves own).
Of course, it is STILL rationed even under a private system. Read your elementary economics textbook again! (The "free market" rations by the prices of goods and services!) The problem today is that the "private sector" hasn't done a very good job of organizing itself to operate in the public interest. The government has allowed there to be too few players, too many kinds of STRUCTURAL inefficiences that lead to waste of resources (such as doctors prescribing unnecessary tests at clinics which they themselves own).
There are too few players because the government is involved. Having more government involvement will mean more players? Strange that, that has never been true before and that the opposite is true, less government, more players. More players, less cost.
Having more government involved means that the players in the health care system won't be operating as an oligopoly, which is what we have now. The government doesn't seek to maximize its profits, etc. That's a BIG difference, isn't it?
Have you ever seen the chart of the growth in the percentage of US GDP that is going to health care? It's staggering. The country simply cannot continue to afford what the "free market" is giving us. It's completely screwed up RIGHT NOW.
Of course, it is STILL rationed even under a private system. Read your elementary economics textbook again! (The "free market" rations by the prices of goods and services!) The problem today is that the "private sector" hasn't done a very good job of organizing itself to operate in the public interest. The government has allowed there to be too few players, too many kinds of STRUCTURAL inefficiences that lead to waste of resources (such as doctors prescribing unnecessary tests at clinics which they themselves own).
Read my elementary economics textbook again? Excuse me? I have no clue what point you are trying to make. Try being more succinct next go round.
I will repeat this again, in case you either have problems w/ reading comprehension or you have short term memory loss.
Healthcare is NOT rationed in this country. You can buy all the healthcare you wish to buy.
Your particular healthcare insurance policy may ration healthcare, through the stipulations in the policy you pay for . . . as does Medicare and Medicaid, which are healthcare insurance policies established by the federal and state government(s) and administered through third party administrators.
But as far as rationing healthcare, no sir, I beg to differ. You can go buy all the healthcare you want, as long as you can pull out the cash or the credit cards to do so.
Healthcare is NOT rationed in this country. You can buy all the healthcare you wish to buy.
You do not understand the concepts behind market economics. The price mechanism of markets is a rationing phenomenon. It is not a "conscious" rationing. Rationing can also be due to the "invisible hand" of Adam Smith.
It is also a bit confused to talk about "all the services you can buy" because you only have one appendix to have removed, comme ca? The function of your eyes only degrades at a certain rate, regardless of how much health care you buy. Etc.
Having more government involved means that the players in the health care system won't be operating as an oligopoly, which is what we have now. The government doesn't seek to maximize its profits, etc. That's a BIG difference, isn't it?
Are you telling me that politicians won't be lobbied to give rich contracts to certain "providers" for the UHI network? What we have now is the same as what we have later. The only difference is MORE payers, which means MORE money for the lobbyist providers.
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Have you ever seen the chart of the growth in the percentage of US GDP that is going to health care? It's staggering. The country simply cannot continue to afford what the "free market" is giving us. It's completely screwed up RIGHT NOW.
Yeah it screwed but so is UHI, the same providers, the same EVERYTHING... the only difference, the more people paying into it. Guess who loses... that is unless you find a politician that won't be corrupt into doing things the Big Business way (which by the way has been the way since 100 years now and UHI is NOT going to change that)... yeah, I leave it to the free market any time, I rather fix something than put a WORSE system in place...
Having more government involved means that the players in the health care system won't be operating as an oligopoly, which is what we have now. The government doesn't seek to maximize its profits, etc. That's a BIG difference, isn't it?
Have you ever seen the chart of the growth in the percentage of US GDP that is going to health care? It's staggering. The country simply cannot continue to afford what the "free market" is giving us. It's completely screwed up RIGHT NOW.
HOOOOEY!!!! A bunch of misinformed, totally skewered HOOOOEEYY!!!!!
Your benevolent Uncle Sam does not pay HIS FAIR SHARE even tho HIS FAIR SHARE comes from YOUR TAX DOLLARS.
Pardon me for confusing you with facts, but here is the way it works. Read slowly, now.
The federal government generously subsidizes state Medicaid programs, which then in turn pay approximately 60% of the actual cost of providing care, leaving YOU, who pay out of pocket or through insurance, picking up the shortfall. Yeah, that amounts to 40%.
Medicare does a little better!!! They pay about 85% of the cost of providing care, so you, the taxpayer (the worker bee!) only have to subsidize 15% of the cost of providing care.
FACT: The federal government plays a type of Robin Hood with the hardworking middle class stiffs of this country, i.e. you and me - and our employers, taking from the not-so-rich and giving to those who qualify for these government sponsored universal healthcare insurance programs.
I will give you a while so you can go consult the CBO website and get your facts straight - or maybe your economics book is still sitting close by. But I doubt macro economics is gonna explain the shuffle and jive game the feds play w/ your tax money when it comes to healthcare expenditures in this country.
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