Super Dave Loc: Realville, USA

Single Payer grocery stores would be so cool.

Just walk in and get everything you want. Free..

What could possibly go wrong?

JFlorio Loc: Seminole Florida

Just had a 90 year old client in a wheel chair, third stage kidney failure, and melanoma who's son lives with her, so he can care for her told by Medicare/Medicaid after reviewing her records they have determined that some benefits will be cut because she could work part time as a greeter. I have since straightened them out after much paperwork and ridiculous phone calls. Poor woman was worried to death.

Super Dave Loc: Realville, USA

Nice work.

boofhead

Apart from corruption, which is endemic now in this once proud nation, the real cause of the problems with health care is the cost. If it was lower, perhaps a third of the cost now, we would have time to sort it out and time to prevent the bankruptcies that happen every day to normal people. We pay too much and get too little for our money.

There are three simple ways to fix that and buy us time:

1. Tort reform. Limit pain and suffering awards. This would reduce the cost of malpractice insurance and therefore the cost to the consumer.
2. Allow drugs to be purchased from other sources such as Canada. Competition would reduce the costs of drugs the same as they do for all other products.
3. Kill the ACA completely. We were allowed to buy just what we wanted from insurance companies prior to the ACA such as catastrophic coverage, which was cheaper and hardly ever used, which satisfied the requirement that healthy people be in the pot in order to share it's benefits. It also satisfied the pre-existing conditions requirement, which is a big problem for insurance companies that are now forced to accept people already sick. Allowing people not to have coverage but who can get coverage after they become sick was never allowed prior to ACA and it makes no sense now either. In the past it was well known that in order to have coverage you had to be insured for a year (or maybe less) prior to a claim. People could buy coverage for a small premium and large deductible then ramp it up after they started to claim for, perhaps, a sudden emergency. In that way, the insurance company could not claim it was pre existing and deny it. Forcing people to buy expensive policies for illnesses or treatments they do not want causes everyone to pay more, and many people will opt out, knowing they can jump in any time they need it, which defeats the entire principle of insurance.

If medical was cheaper, we could just buy medical treatment at full price whenever we needed it, and not even need insurance. A relative was treated at one of the biggest not-for-profit hospitals in the country a few years back and they charged her $5,000 a night just for her room which was a shared double-occupancy normal hospital room, not emergency care or critical care just a room. And she got MSRA while she was there. Her nurses warned her to get out as soon as she could and they were right. That is US medical.

debeda

You know I just read something about universal healthcare and other things on Vox, which I believe is a newer left leaning site. They have a very different perception about this and say it's financially unsustainable. Was surprised to see the common sense in a leftist site.

Louie27 Loc: Peoria, AZ

We don't need anther social program for healthcare. We should have it set up so that health insurance companies can operate in every state. That in turn, would spark them to have lower prices and better plans for what every person wants, not what is mandated by the government or insurance company.

Louie27 Loc: Peoria, AZ

With your saying that the healthcare companies are ripping us off. How does that equate with private companies also ripping us off also. It seems both are on equal footing except when most public business's who have to try to provide the lowest price for customers to be competitive. That is why we need for health insurance companies, to be able to operate in all states if they so choose. Competitive pricing has always been good for the American people. No government operated agency has ever operated efficiently.

buffalo Loc: Texas

buffalo Loc: Texas

News flash, louie, IT IS ALREADY LEGAL FOR health INSURANCE corporations TO SELL HEALTH INSURANCE POLICIES ACROSS STATE LINES! Have premiums come down? Besides that would not change the price of medical services. Another revelation...PRIVATE FOR PROFIT HEALTH INSURANCE CORPORATIONS DO NOT WANT TO OPERATE IN EVERY STATE...go figure.

buffalo Loc: Texas

Your wrong. Health INSURANCE policies can be sold across state lines. Like ALL for profit corporations, their primary purpose is to maximize PROFITS not peoples' health CARE. Besides what would operating in all state have to do with bring down the cost of medical services.

http://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20110920.013390/full/

Louie27 Loc: Peoria, AZ

From what I have read there are only about 4 states that have laws that permit all health insurance companies to cross state lines for insurance purposes.

buffalo Loc: Texas

Then it is the states and not the federal government preventing that.

Section 1333 of Obamacare (ACA) enacted in March 2010 took full effect in January 2016 (“Allowing Purchases of Out-of-State Health Insurance”). It is captioned, “Provisions Relating To Offering of Plans In More than One State.”

Super Dave Loc: Realville, USA

And yet it was a complete failure.

buffalo Loc: Texas

so, that means it was bullshit that premiums would come down if only private, for profit health INSURANCE corporations could just sell their crappy, money extorting produc across state lines.

Again, what the hell would that have to do with bringing the cost of health ARE down? Just more lies and propaganda!

Super Dave Loc: Realville, USA

Obamacare was all bullshit. Claiming Big Government could save the smelly masses money by running healthcare was an obvious lie to begin with.

The answer is more freedom, more choices, and more liberty. Something Socialist Democrats look at like a vampires look at a cross.

HSA's
Tort reform
Selling insurance across state lines
Stopping all personal mandates

Government has never in the history of America ever made anything cheaper.