Yes I said it. It's a dastardly sell-out. Over fear of it getting clobbered by the health insurance companies like happened in 1994, there was a simple trade-off done. Subsidies would be provided and in exchange the government would force everyone to buy one of the insurance companies products. yes, the fucking insurance companies. The people (along with the major hospital chains imho) who created the mess and gouge people left and right. Yes, let's require everyone to buy their damn product. (
Step 1 of any solution is to get rid of the insurance companies from the daily lives of people.
Step 2 is to get the hospitals to stop gouging everyone.
How do we do it? Single Payer health care. It's the only way, and the cost savings of cutting out the insurance companies will be immense.
I grew up in Italy and guess what? I have never heard of anyone going bankrupt because they got sick. Here in the US a friend of my mother's who was of Italian descent was desperately trying to get her italian citizenship through. Why? So she could go to Italy and get treatment for her cancer.
She died before that happened.
This isn't an issue of "socialism". I'm generally a market socialist. I believe competition is good. But guess what? There is no competition now. At no time in my 20+ years in the US have I EVER chosen my health care based on competition between Dr's.
So, this is not about socialism. This is about basic humanity.
How expensive will it be? I don't know. By cutting out the insurance companies and the endless legions of people who have to deal with them, and by cutting out the gouging by hospitals, I think it will be cheaper than the current system.
How will it be paid for? I don't know. Do it via payroll taxes if need by but I don't think that need be (or not totally). Here's a thought: Cut the military/NSA/CIA/Homeland Security budget by 75%.
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