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You prevent problems by addressing them. Why do you assume US system would be as bad as in Wales?
I just had my insurance company back-date the termination date on my insurance policy to a date prior to my visit at the ER, and now I am in the hole for thousands of dollars. While I was at ER, the hospital called the insurance company who said I was still covered. You might like the system we have, but I think it sucks big time.
How does an insurer back- date a termination date?
American life expectancy is declining its particularly bad in rural areas and the Midwest. Medicare for all would prevent this terrible tragedy from continuing.
There is a small decline in life expectancy, 78.7 vs 78.6, in the US.
The CDC attributes this primarily to three factors:
Overdose ( drug abuse)
Chronic liver Disease ( alcoholism)
Suicide ( depression)
Medicare for all would have little to no impact in prevention of these three factors.
One of the things most people don't seem to take into account is the actual cost of their health insurance in the US. If you get insurance through your job, do they pay a portion of your premium? If so, realize that you are not getting that much in your paychecks. My family has a policy through my husband's job, and our portion of the premium is ~$320/month. But the total cost of our policy is ~$20,500. Add to that our co-pays (20%) and deductibles ($2000/$4000), and our coverage is very costly. If my employer didn't pay for our insurance coverage, we could take home more, so any additional taxes to pay for health care (not health care insurance, which is what the ACA is about), would be mitigated by that. For those that crow that employers would never pass that on to employees, I suggest you find a union, because that's the sort of thing we specialize in.
And I can't say it enough--the ACA isn't health care. It's health care coverage. Insurance. When Republicans gutted the ACA, any power the government had to lower costs was lost to the insurance lobby. Insurance, for the most part, is a for-profit business. There are exceptions, but they are few and come with their own issues.
In the US, we're a very "you're on your own" type of society. We don't want to make decisions for the greater good if it means there's a possibility, no matter how small, that we could be slightly inconvenienced in the future.
Many of us are facing disturbing futures. I am diabetic. My son, who is just 18, has been diagnosed with chronic migraines. If either of us loses the protection for pre-exisiting conditions, we are in trouble. It took us a year to find a medicine that allows my son to function normally. He missed 40 days of school last year, but we had to run through an entire list of treatment options to find one that works. If we had to pay for it out-of-pocket, it would be over $1500 for 8 doses. He's had months where he needs double that. When that becomes a pre-existing condition that can be excluded, I am terrified for what will happen to him. Same with my meds/testing supplies for diabetes. I do not currently need to take insulin, but a big part of managing that is being able to test my blood glucose several times a day. My current insurance covers 1 strip per day for testing. I have to pay out of pocket for them already, if I want to test enough to keep tight control of my blood sugar.
So, personally, I'm fine with paying a higher tax for health benefits, and don't mind one bit if someone else would benefit from it.
ACA is legislation, not healthcare or insurance.
When other countries embarked on Universal Healthcare, they amended their constitutions to create a right to healthcare. Obviously, there were able to put aside their differences and grant a new right. That did not happen iwith the ACA. In fact, SCOTUS ruled it unconstitutional to force states to expand Medicaid.
A 2/3 majority of Congress is necessary to amend the US Constitution and then 2/3 of all states must ratify it.
My crystal ball says that’s not going to happen in the US, any time, soon.
There are 4 different models of universal healthcare: the Beveridge model (NHS,) single payer (e.g. Canada, Australia, Taiwan,) Bismarck (German/social insurance) model, and the hybrid two tier model (e.g. France, public insurance + optional top up social insurance.) France has the best system IMHO.
The Swiss model relies entirely on guarannteed issue ( age and condition) private insurance.
There in an individual mandate and 99+% of the population complies. A health 20 year old pays the same premium as a sickly 88 year old.
France consistently ranks as the or one of the best in terms of healthcare.
"prepaying premiums" uh no, you dont understand how medicare works.
Payroll taxes go into the general fund with no guarantee of future compensation. So that "premium" is really being used to fund todays wars, pensions, disability payments, etc. The term "healthcare Ponzi" is more apropos.
And FYI medicare is scheduled to go bankrupt in the not too distant future. My advice to you is to clean up your diet, stop the drugs and drinking. In other words, dont get sick.
Oh I do understand how Medicare works.
Prepaying premiums is the way I choose to define Payroll Taxes. No diff than the way I choose to define the taxes I pat into old age income insurance.
Congress is free to change benefits or end benefits at any time they are willing to entertain tens of millions of voters coming at them with sharpened pitchforks.
There are 2 Medicare Trust Funds, hospitalization insurance and Supplimental medical.
Payroll taxes and Medicare enrollees premiums fund the Hospital ( HI) Fund By law, surpluses must be invested in special issue treasuries which creates money for the Federal Givernment to spend as Congress sees fit.
The Supplimental Medical Fund is funded by primarily by general revenues and to a lesser extent by Medicare enrollee premiums.
The Payroll Tax rate ( prepaid premiums have not changed in 33 years. I have no doubt that Congress will continue to kick the can until it is necessary to increase the tax ( premium).
There is a small decline in life expectancy, 78.7 vs 78.6, in the US.
The CDC attributes this primarily to three factors:
Overdose ( drug abuse)
Chronic liver Disease ( alcoholism)
Suicide ( depression)
Medicare for all would have little to no impact in prevention of these three factors.
Those are all related to employment prospects and lack of access to healthcare... I get it though the GOP won't stop until the United States is a proper Social Darwinist third world country.
There is a small decline in life expectancy, 78.7 vs 78.6, in the US.
The CDC attributes this primarily to three factors:
Overdose ( drug abuse)
Chronic liver Disease ( alcoholism)
Suicide ( depression)
Medicare for all would have little to no impact in prevention of these three factors.
Possibly improvements on suicide. The Oregon Medicaid study found better mental health outcomes.
Of course improvements in suicide probably means more medically related spending, not less.
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