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But your stories and anecdotes dont square with official statistics from highly reputable sources. You also push hard for a privatized health care system so its clear that you have an agenda.
You literally don't know what you're talking about. You've never been there. You have no reference point. You don't understand the demographic shifts. The best thing to do would be to stop acting like you know.
I'm against Obamacare because it's the worst case scenario. Legalized and weaponized collusion between government and Wall St. against the people. I'm not one of those people who believe the free market solves everything, but I do believe we need less government regulation in health care. It's the problem, not the solution.
An illustration: Let's say a pill made by a Pfizer factory in Pakistan costs $0.05 there. The same pill made at a Pfizer factory in India, costs those people $0.10. The same pill produced at a Pfizer factory in Panama costs their people $0.50. In Canada, that same pill produced in a Canadian Pfizer factory costs $5.00. In the US, that pill costs us $20.00. Why would any sane person not buy their pills online from a reputable Pakistani pharmacy for $0.05 each? The answer is that the Pharma lobbyists have essentially bribed our politicians to make it a felony to purchase their meds outside of the US. So now, not just is the corporation gouging the people, but the government is acting as their muscle to ensure we all pay. That's similar to Obamacare as well. The medical system needs to be reformed, not regulated more.
I'd actually be fine with single payer, so long as it's at the state level. Here in Minnesota it would work fine. I also want the option to opt out if it turns out to be like Costa Rica's & so would you.
So no, I'm not pushing a privatized health care agenda, other than wanting to avoid what I've actually seen not work.
Our middle class friends are quite pleased with the health care in Costa Rica.
They both are much healthier than they were in the U.S. and have posted about the support they've received for healthy life choices though the health care system.
One day, all our health care might be outcome based rather than service based.
Last edited by GotHereQuickAsICould; 12-30-2017 at 07:05 PM..
Costa Rica's healthcare is pretty good if you don't mind the wait, but virtually anyone middle class or above is using private insurance and private hospitals, just as they do with private schools.
Costa Rica is small, homogenous and they have an almost Scandinavian approach in their work ethic and civic pride. They also have no military so they have plenty of extra money to spend on their social programs. I believe socialism can work in a population that size. I'm from Minnesota, I'm sure it would work here as we have the same characteristics.
The downside to having to military is they've been overrun with illegal immigrants, most of whom are not good for Costa Rica. The country has a Colombian problem is that Costa Rica lies North of Columbia, along the 'Cocaine Highway' to the cartels in Mexico. That leads to a lot of the violence. Assassinations have become common. The victims are almost always Colombian. There are seemingly Colombian hitmen galore in Costa Rica. FARC, the Colombian guerrilla army has a presence in Costa Rica. The Colombians bring the narcotics trade & extreme violence.
The immigration problem that has dragged down Costa Rican healthcare and education are the Nicaraguans. They do the work the Costa Ricans don't want to do. They mow lawns, work as maids, do construction, etc. They also have tons of unemployable kids who end up joining gangs and committing incredible street crime. The law is the law of the old homogenous Costa Rica and the criminals are absolutely abusing it. The penalty for a street mugging, so long as it's under a few hundred dollars is a ticket. If there's a cop around. If the criminals aren't armed, because often time the cops aren't, which means they never engage them. The solution for the upper middle class and wealthy are bodyguards, gated communities, 12' walls topped by razor wire around their homes, conceal & carry permits.
Costa Rica had a really great thing going, but the Nicaraguans and Colombians have screwed it up to a large degree. The health care system is pretty good, but segregated, has extremely slow care times & if you ever need a life saving surgery, pray you have private health insurance.
Interesting that you bring that up. I am doing a bit of research towards possible places to retire when the time finally comes and have been wondering. What is involved in getting a carry permit in CR, and what are their gun laws like?
Costa Rica has been highly spoken of by tea baggers since at least 2010, even though they never knew anything about it except for what certain talk radio hosts (who have a vested interest in some land there) say. However has anyone actually studied their economic indicators vs other Banana Republic countries vs the US / W. Europe / Australia? If so, give me one good reason I should trust what a talk radio listening tea bagger says about Costa Rica.
Costa Rica has been highly spoken of by tea baggers since at least 2010, even though they never knew anything about it except for what certain talk radio hosts (who have a vested interest in some land there) say. However has anyone actually studied their economic indicators vs other Banana Republic countries vs the US / W. Europe / Australia? If so, give me one good reason I should trust what a talk radio listening tea bagger says about Costa Rica.
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