Republican makes first move to work with Democrats on healthcare

Discussion in 'Health Care' started by LafayetteBis, Aug 1, 2017.

  1. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    From here: Republican makes first move to work with Democrats on healthcare - excerpt:

    However, just how unprofitable is private HC-insurance that premiums must be raised? Not at all! See here: Profits are booming at Health Insurance Companies - excerpt:
    Something is very, very wrong with private insurance companies who profit from Health Care, which should be provided by the Federal government, just as is National Defense. Had the US a tried-and-true National HealthCare System, HC-providers would be obliged to accept government regulated prices for services rendered.

    In the US, for example, a GP makes $200K a year (Bureau of Labor Statistics data from here). In Europe, the average GP does not even make half that amount ... and yet they have well-paying jobs.

    Health Care in the US is a typical example of Price Gouging on behalf of both a Profession and Health Care Insurers. For a service as important as Health Care is to the nation, we should have the Federal Government providing it at affordable prices in hospitals it runs.

    Which is how Health Care is done elsewhere in the world, and why those systems are rated better than ours in the US. See that sad fact underscored here: Country Rankings - National Health Care
     
    Last edited: Aug 2, 2017
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  2. shooter

    shooter Active Member Past Donor

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    well that will cost the republicans at the polls,if my senators reach across the isle ,before the ACA is repealed they will be replaced for sure.
    the ACA is of for and by the insurance lobby,what we need first and foremost is price controls,the ACA needs to go and start with a clean slate.
    the problem with healthcare for starters is K ST. and no price controls.
     
  3. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Price controls in any National Health System (NHS) in Europe nowadays is inherent to the system. The professional acts all have an NHS-stipulated cost - negotiated with doctor "unions" (though they are not called "unions") periodically. The cost for my annual check-up call to my designated doctor (here in France, which I choose) is $25. (How much is yours?)

    A GP in the US makes $200K a year. A GP in most of Europe makes 50/110K dollars a year depending upon the country).

    Moreover, pharmaceutical costs are also negotiated with companies at bulk-rates for all hospitals (and pharmacies). The European pharmaceutical companies "break-even" in Europe and go to the US to gouge their profits*. (YOU in the US are thus paying the profits on pharmaceuticals that I buy a cost-price here in Europe - and I want to thank you deeply ... !)

    *I suggest you buy your medicines in Canada where they are typically less expensive (35 to 55%) - see here.
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2017
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  4. shooter

    shooter Active Member Past Donor

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    our problem is here;;;;;;

    https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=i
     
  5. wgabrie

    wgabrie Well-Known Member Donor

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    Yay, they are going to fix Obamacare! :applause:
     
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  6. shooter

    shooter Active Member Past Donor

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    Year Total Spent Number of Lobbyists
    2017 $1,657,260,107 10,400
     
  7. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    If enough people WANTED a National Health Care system, they'd have it.

    Just ask your Canadian neighbors - they have one. It's called ... uh, Medicare and it goes like this:
    No, we can't have anything like that in America. Ugh! That's socialism ... !

    Rating of healthcare systems, by the Commonwealth Fund:
    [​IMG]
    (Note that the higher the score the worse the rating!)

    PS: Also note the Health Expenditures per capita at the bottom!!!
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2017
  8. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Price controls? Really?

    You wanna ask your "average GP" who is raking in $200K a year to cut his salary in half?

    No, we must have an alternative system, run by the government; but one that also has decent doctors working at decent salaries because the government paid for their schooling!

    Instead of wasting 54% of the Discretionary Budget on the DoD. (See that here.) Take $50B out of that DoD-budget and give it to the Dept. of Education for teaching all Health Care workers!

    Then, institute a National Health Care system with designated prices - only then will we get the total cost down ...
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2017
  9. shooter

    shooter Active Member Past Donor

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    n

    this might be news to you but medicare has price controls ,who are you kidding,.
    https://edrugsearch.com/how-big-pharma-rips-you-off-on-drugs/

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-10/hospitals-are-blatantly-ripping-us

    yes price controls

    https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=i

    funny the health care lobby and big pharma lobby can spend billions on congress.

    yes price controls
     
  10. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Medicare and Medicaid account for $1.19T of the total $3.2T in total healthcare spending.

    So, yes, they are an important amount, but still only a third.

    So, why not expand both to 100% - fix prices of doctor's fees at half present costs and control pharmaceutical pricing? Because the medical professions would give hideous amounts of money to Replicant candidates who, if elected, would do nothing whatsoever to change the system as it is today.

    Which they have been doing anyway for decades.

    There must first be a sea-change in American Mentality regarding the provision of health-care - only then (maybe) will Americans vote the right-people into political power who will bring about the change.

    I would not want to be hanging in a tree till that happens ...
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2017
  11. shooter

    shooter Active Member Past Donor

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    medicaid i did not say one word about medicaid ,so you can stop trying to muddy the water man.
     
  12. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Medicaid & Medicare are both Health-Care costs.

    So, they are (and should be) both added into the total $3.2T spent in America ...
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2017
  13. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Our (plural) problem is "mentality". Most developed countries have National Healthcare Systems and they are noted as the best on this planet. Far better than ours, particularly in terms of cost because NHSs negotiate prices with medical professionals and pharmaceutical companies.

    Don't believe me? See here.

    The US must create an identical government run HealthCare Option; which means - first and foremost - it must train HealthCare Practitioners (from hospital workers to medical doctors). And it must have its own hospital system throughout the country.

    By controlling the expenses of both (and eradicating "profits"), the US can bring down total costs. Of course, that is going to generate considerable anger with medical professionals. A GP in the US earns $200K a year, and will not understand why they should earn half that (as is the case in NHSs in Europe).

    Of course, if their educational expenses are paid by Dept. of Education, then that is an altogether different circumstance. As well as their medical apprenticeship in publicly owned hospitals.

    What I describe above, in a nation of 320 million souls and over such a geographical expanse is a major project. But, that is the price we pay for not having started the process under Bill Clinton.

    And, the further we progress, the more expensive healthcare will become if left to private enterprise ...

    PS: Of course, it would help if Americans understood the strategic difference between "saving Americans" (Health Care) and "saving the world" (DoD).
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2017
  14. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Wakey, wakey - you are selecting the one market that has price controls out of the total market that has mostly none.

    Were price controls to really exist in the US predominantly, as they do for me here in France, Americans would be paying half the total per capita US cost as do the French.

    So, let's just expand the price-controls of Medicare to the rest of the Industry ... !!!!!!
     
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2017
  15. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    C'mon, try harder.

    Do you really think that giving a link is sufficient rebuttal in a DEBATE forum?

    Think again. Learn to participate in the forum with dialog instead of just links (which should be given ONLY to support arguments) ... !
     
  16. Zorro

    Zorro Well-Known Member

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    IT BEGINS: Sanders Will Offer 'Medicare for All'...

    Congress and all their staffers should go first. Once they are all on Medicare, then we can expand to the rest of the Federal Government, and everyone employed by them, and once if everyone is happy with that, we can look at expanding it further.
     
  17. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    The health care provided for All Government Employees is amongst the best in the US.

    From "PBS News Hour" -
    Just Ask: What Health Benefits Do the Supreme Court Justices Receive?

    Excerpt-
    All Americans should be getting the very same medical-care insurance. It is that key to living a normally "healthy" life. Of course, part & parcel of that protection should be annual check-ups and programs to reduce the calamity of national obesity in America. Obesity is the known factor for developing illnesses that reduce life-span.

    Btw, compared to the Europe's National Healthcare Programs, the average US lifespan is four years less than in Europe. See here.
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2017
  18. Zorro

    Zorro Well-Known Member

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    Yes. Americans are so fat that in Europe we are easily spotted, we're the fat ones.

    Our farm subsidies, illegal immigrant labor, and food stamp programs make food far less expensive than it would be if the free market was in operation allowing for real price discovery.
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2017
  19. LafayetteBis

    LafayetteBis Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Those are not the reasons.

    You are just looking for excuses.
     

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