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Bezos will read this and think, whatever happened to Google Health? Anyways, the health care system in this country is intentionally fucked up on a policy basis

Bezos will read this and think, whatever happened to Google Health? Anyways, the health care system in this country is intentionally fucked up on a policy basis. Private industry mostly extracts pounds of flesh and puts bandaids on it. We need public policy to fix it. Also, holy shit this is a brain disease: "Congress enacted a law that bans Medicare from negotiating drug prices with the pharmaceutical industry. However, since Amazon Health would act as a private corporation dealing with other private corporations, it is hard to imagine Congress could prevent it from getting favorable prices for its patients." Great. Instead of fixing public policy for the benefit of the public, create a monstrous new private entity that sucks blood money from the public.

SapphireSun 9y ago
I also would like to point out how insane it is that the author of this piece is crying out for a Nietzschesqe superman to save the public from itself. Mutual aid and the democratic process are quite enough. Just a hint though, solving some of our problems will take some redistribution of wealth, though in the case of medicine universal health care will save an ungodly amount of money which will make things easier.
- closeparen 9y ago
  >the democratic process The will of the people is clear: illness ought to be ruinously expensive, health insurance ought to be a privilege for those who can afford it. The democratic process has considered the issue quite seriously, several times in recent years, and decided on the present situation. There is overwhelming bipartisan support for keeping healthcare pretty much as is, with very slight variations between red and blue. Barring a major change in public opinion, any improvement in healthcare will have to be undemocratic.
  - mercer 9y ago
    > The will of the people is clear I thought quite a lot of research showed that voters across the board are actually in favor of more Europe-style/better health care policies, but that they vote against their own interests because of partisan issues/politics. If that's true, you might still be right in practice of course, but at the very least there's a bit more hope that things can change.
    - craftyguy 9y ago
      And yet here we are..
      - mercer 9y ago
        Yes?
      - lkrubner 9y ago
        In a country where a law that is only supported by 17% of the public easily gets through the House and only fails in the Senate by a single vote.
    - closeparen 9y ago
      >they vote against their own interests because of partisan issues/politics. This isn't like some temporary blemish on democracy, it is democracy. People have different opinions (partisanship) about what ought to happen in the public sphere (politics) and outcomes are dictated by the people's actual votes rather than expert opinion about their best interests. I'd be down for a technocrat philosopher-king, but that's not the world we live in. In fact, technocrats are being soundly rejected by both left and right.
  - SapphireSun 9y ago
    Our democracy is broken, we must fix it. Policy is made against the wishes of the great majority of people in favor of the wealthy. This has been documented time and time again.
gaius 9y ago
create a monstrous new private entity that sucks blood money from the public. Kinda like what IBM is trying to do with Watson.
- flamedoge 9y ago
  Why can't America have a public health care? They have public post service USPS..
  - jlgaddis 9y ago
    Too many politicians receiving lobbying money.
  - closeparen 9y ago
    Because it is a democracy, and an electoral majority of the country vehemently opposes it.
  - melling 9y ago
    The Post Office usually loses money: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/306224-us-postal-services-posts-56b-loss-for-2016 http://thehill.com/policy/finance/306224-us-postal-services-... I don’t know the right answer but starting with a good system that works seems like a good idea. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland
    - gaius 9y ago
      If I were building a healthcare system, I'd be looking to France/Germany for a role model
      - thedarkproject 9y ago
        Switzerland's health care systems beats those by a mile. Every expat who knows these countries can confirm this.
    - 9y ago
indemnity 9y ago
In New Zealand, there’s a government agency with a role to subsidise medication and decide which products to subsidise. It is pretty successful at driving down costs. Unsurprisingly, it was targeted in the thankfully now failed TPPA, because god forbid a government flex its muscle and keep the market competitive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmac

SapphireSun 9y ago

I also would like to point out how insane it is that the author of this piece is crying out for a Nietzschesqe superman to save the public from itself. Mutual aid and the democratic process are quite enough. Just a hint though, solving some of our problems will take some redistribution of wealth, though in the case of medicine universal health care will save an ungodly amount of money which will make things easier.

closeparen 9y ago
>the democratic process The will of the people is clear: illness ought to be ruinously expensive, health insurance ought to be a privilege for those who can afford it. The democratic process has considered the issue quite seriously, several times in recent years, and decided on the present situation. There is overwhelming bipartisan support for keeping healthcare pretty much as is, with very slight variations between red and blue. Barring a major change in public opinion, any improvement in healthcare will have to be undemocratic.
- mercer 9y ago
  > The will of the people is clear I thought quite a lot of research showed that voters across the board are actually in favor of more Europe-style/better health care policies, but that they vote against their own interests because of partisan issues/politics. If that's true, you might still be right in practice of course, but at the very least there's a bit more hope that things can change.
  - craftyguy 9y ago
    And yet here we are..
    - mercer 9y ago
      Yes?
    - lkrubner 9y ago
      In a country where a law that is only supported by 17% of the public easily gets through the House and only fails in the Senate by a single vote.
  - closeparen 9y ago
    >they vote against their own interests because of partisan issues/politics. This isn't like some temporary blemish on democracy, it is democracy. People have different opinions (partisanship) about what ought to happen in the public sphere (politics) and outcomes are dictated by the people's actual votes rather than expert opinion about their best interests. I'd be down for a technocrat philosopher-king, but that's not the world we live in. In fact, technocrats are being soundly rejected by both left and right.
- SapphireSun 9y ago
  Our democracy is broken, we must fix it. Policy is made against the wishes of the great majority of people in favor of the wealthy. This has been documented time and time again.

gaius 9y ago

create a monstrous new private entity that sucks blood money from the public. Kinda like what IBM is trying to do with Watson.

flamedoge 9y ago
Why can't America have a public health care? They have public post service USPS..
- jlgaddis 9y ago
  Too many politicians receiving lobbying money.
- closeparen 9y ago
  Because it is a democracy, and an electoral majority of the country vehemently opposes it.
- melling 9y ago
  The Post Office usually loses money: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/306224-us-postal-services-posts-56b-loss-for-2016 http://thehill.com/policy/finance/306224-us-postal-services-... I don’t know the right answer but starting with a good system that works seems like a good idea. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland
  - gaius 9y ago
    If I were building a healthcare system, I'd be looking to France/Germany for a role model
    - thedarkproject 9y ago
      Switzerland's health care systems beats those by a mile. Every expat who knows these countries can confirm this.
  - 9y ago

indemnity 9y ago

In New Zealand, there’s a government agency with a role to subsidise medication and decide which products to subsidise. It is pretty successful at driving down costs. Unsurprisingly, it was targeted in the thankfully now failed TPPA, because god forbid a government flex its muscle and keep the market competitive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmac