(2/1/19 update: there is a new study that shows medicare-for-all will save $5 trillion in 10 years. so now i support medicare-for-all. why not? https://truthout.org/articles/new-study-shows-medicare-for-all-would-save-us-5-1-trillion-over-ten-years/)
original post:
how come americans are not trying to move to canada where there is free healthcare? how come most people would rather migrate to america as their first option instead of social democratic countries like canada, denmark, etc ...
when i first arrived in america i was amazed to learn that hospitals are obligated by law to treat anyone with life threatening condition. and if you can't pay the bill you don't have to go to jail. even more impressive is that if you don't have financial assets they can't take anything from you. creditors can't touch or garnish your retirement accounts and social security benefits. god bless america.
and there is no reason to feel guilty if you don't pay because the reason why healthcare is so expensive in america is because regulations are preventing free market competition. this allows hospitals to over charge and be very profitable, even after treating people who can't pay. so hospitals should be happy that they treat patients who can't pay. because if regulations are removed to allow a free market, competition will be intense and healthcare will be much cheaper. the government can subsidize those who still can't afford health insurance. this time, hospitals will always get paid but they will earn much less money. the downside of deregulation is there will be quack doctors who get their medical knowledge from youtube videos.
of course it's still a problem that 45,000 americans a year die because of lack of health insurance. and even if there are no deaths, it's not a reason to stop trying to improve society. you can't say there was no reason to free the slaves because slaves in the 18th century were better off than the slaves of the 17th century. that's a terrible argument. but it wasn't the fault of the slaves they were slaves. if they tried to free themselves they get killed. but today if you go to school and work hard you will get healthcare. it's important to know how many of the 45,000 do drugs, don't take care of their health, did not go to school or work hard? how many of those can afford health insurance but did not buy health insurance? if you earn less than $17,000 you get free healthcare from medicaid expansion. those earning just above that get's subsidized.
i disagree with the left when they say healthcare is a right. that is stupid. they are just destroying their credibility because anyone with common sense knows that is not true. doctors need to go to medical school. it cost a lot of money to make drugs and medical equipment. however, it's perfectly fine to say healthcare should be free in a rich nation. but note that america has a huge budget deficit and our debt is already the same as our GDP at $21 trillion. so the best way to say it without sounding stupid is,"we should cut our defense budget in half so the government can close the gap and subsidize everyone whose income falls below the health insurance affordability level".
before obamacare, there were 44 million uninsured. i'll be conservative and assume they all were below the affordability level. i'll also assume the bronze plan will fall from $395/month to $300 because of the removal of the pre-existing conditions clause. so this will cost 44 million X $300 X 12 months ~ $160 billion a year.
$200 billion a year is spent on federal and state subsidy on higher education. provide free online college degrees - https://ian-crystal.blogspot.com/2017/10/education-racket.html. then move $60 billion towards healthcare subsidy. also take $100 billion from the $700 billion military budget. that's $60 + $100 = $160.
the government should avoid cuddling society. healthcare costs can decrease over time with self improvement and cultural reform campaign efforts. example the poverty level and health insurance affordability level can decrease substantially if we expect low income people to share homes or have roommates. and it goes without saying no healthcare system will ever work if people can't let go of their lemon meringue - https://ian-crystal.blogspot.com/2019/03/my-new-deal.html
(for more of my knowledge bombs, click the "ian's knowledge bombs" banner at the top of this article and choose any article in the table of contents that piques your interest)
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