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The problem with the ACA isn't that everyone can get coverage, the problem is that insurance companies are still involved. The idea of designing a solution wher

The problem with the ACA isn't that everyone can get coverage, the problem is that insurance companies are still involved. The idea of designing a solution where private companies are free to profit from the basic operations of a public service is bonkers. They add nothing of value, and will only push prices up. I could've told you from the start that the ACA was doomed to failure, and I come from a country that has socialised healthcare and has benefited from such a system. Take health insurance companies out of the picture, and address price gouging by pharmaceutical companies, and you'll almost certainly see costs come down. I'm pleased to see there has been some momentum for single payer, so the US can scrap the ACA. On a side note, ACA was similar to a plan proposed by Republicans back in the 90s: http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2013/nov/15/ellen-qualls/aca-gop-health-care-plan-1993/ http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2013/nov/15/...

chiefalchemist 9y ago
Yes. But they also charge more because they can. Healthcare is not special. It's like any other limited resources. That is, increase demand and the price goes up. On the other hand, lower demand and prices will fall. As it is we're getting older and intentionally living a more unhealthy lifestyle, but expecting prices to fall? No doubt there are vast disfunction in the current system. However, the biggest - literally - component of that system are the humam seeking / needing care. What's more unhealthy, those people or the insurance companies? I can't see the line between the diabetes dot or the smoking dot and the insurance companies.
- ZenoArrow 9y ago
  > "Yes. But they also charge more because they can. Healthcare is not special. It's like any other limited resources. That is, increase demand and the price goes up." If you're talking about pharmaceutical prices, there are ways around that. For example, drugs that are FDA approved and available elsewhere in the world for a lower price should be able to be legally imported and sold at that lower price. To give an example of how this could be implemented, there was a bill that was proposed to allow drugs from Canada to be imported and sold: https://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/articles/2017/senators-propose-bill-for-canadian-drug-import/ https://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/articles/2017/senators-p... This bill was for the same drugs that legally available in the US, but sold at a cheaper price in Canada. https://twitter.com/sensanders/status/819404681806016513?lang=en https://twitter.com/sensanders/status/819404681806016513?lan... By increasing competition from imports, drug prices can come down. Also, allowing generics to come to market faster for the most commonly used drugs (i.e. cutting down the time for which a single pharmaceutical company has a monopoly on producing a drug) is another approach that can stop pharmaceutical companies from over-inflating drug prices in the US.

chiefalchemist 9y ago

Yes. But they also charge more because they can. Healthcare is not special. It's like any other limited resources. That is, increase demand and the price goes up. On the other hand, lower demand and prices will fall. As it is we're getting older and intentionally living a more unhealthy lifestyle, but expecting prices to fall? No doubt there are vast disfunction in the current system. However, the biggest - literally - component of that system are the humam seeking / needing care. What's more unhealthy, those people or the insurance companies? I can't see the line between the diabetes dot or the smoking dot and the insurance companies.

ZenoArrow 9y ago
> "Yes. But they also charge more because they can. Healthcare is not special. It's like any other limited resources. That is, increase demand and the price goes up." If you're talking about pharmaceutical prices, there are ways around that. For example, drugs that are FDA approved and available elsewhere in the world for a lower price should be able to be legally imported and sold at that lower price. To give an example of how this could be implemented, there was a bill that was proposed to allow drugs from Canada to be imported and sold: https://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/articles/2017/senators-propose-bill-for-canadian-drug-import/ https://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/articles/2017/senators-p... This bill was for the same drugs that legally available in the US, but sold at a cheaper price in Canada. https://twitter.com/sensanders/status/819404681806016513?lang=en https://twitter.com/sensanders/status/819404681806016513?lan... By increasing competition from imports, drug prices can come down. Also, allowing generics to come to market faster for the most commonly used drugs (i.e. cutting down the time for which a single pharmaceutical company has a monopoly on producing a drug) is another approach that can stop pharmaceutical companies from over-inflating drug prices in the US.