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I feel that perhaps healthcare is the ultimate triumph of capitalism. Every other avenue of runaway consumerism and overconsumption can obviously be pointed to
by rsync 9y ago
I feel that perhaps healthcare is the ultimate triumph of capitalism.
Every other avenue of runaway consumerism and overconsumption can obviously be pointed to as either indulgent or unnecessary.
But not healthcare: it's your health, after all - your wellbeing. It's a fundamental right, right ?
...
The received wisdom is that the aging of the baby boomer generation is driving expanded healthcare expenses as this large sect gets older. It's obvious that they need all of this "healthcare".
But what if there were an alternative, more insidious explanation:
The boomers represent an irresistible pile of money. But they don't smoke. They don't have new households to start. They're getting wise to the whole sugar thing. What is left to tempt them with ?
What if there were a clear imperative on the part of a variety of industries to keep this population as unhealthy as possible - so they can stripmine their assets for "healthcare" ?
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- ams6110 9y agoWhile I doubt your scenario is happening with deliberate intent, I definitely avoid interacting with the "healthcare" industry as much as possible.
- throwaway0255 9y ago> The boomers represent an irresistible pile of money. But they don't smoke. They don't have new households to start. They're getting wise to the whole sugar thing. What is left to tempt them with ? > What if there were a clear imperative on the part of a variety of industries to keep this population as unhealthy as possible - so they can stripmine their assets for "healthcare" ? It's not clear that living a healthy lifestyle reduces healthcare costs, it can actually make you more expensive to care for.[1][2][3] Diabetes medications and death from sudden heart attacks are cheap. Healthy people who live into their 80s/90s are the biggest drag on the healthcare system. They spend more of their lives as retirees. They end up needing 24-hour care. And then they still incur the same end-of-life causes as the obese/smokers... they get cancer, they get heart disease, alzheimers, etc. Smokers and obese are inexpensive to care for in terms of lifetime cost. The best-case scenario for an insurance company is that you get hit by a bus or something. Barring that, I think they might actually prefer that you be a smoker or become obese. [1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/9359212/Obese-and-smokers-less-of-a-burden-on-the-NHS-than-the-healthy-who-live-longer-report.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/9359212/Obese-an... [2] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/health/05iht-obese.1.9748884.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/health/05iht-obese.1.97488... [3] https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/03/22/alcohol-obesity-and-smoking-do-not-cost-health-care-systems-money/#647df5ab64aa https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/03/22/alcohol-...
- leekyle333 9y agoMore money is spent on diabetes than any other category. https://health.usnews.com/health-care/articles/2016-12-28/diabetes-takes-biggest-bite-out-of-us-health-care-spending https://health.usnews.com/health-care/articles/2016-12-28/di...
- throwaway0255 9y agoI'm not surprised, but eliminating those costs isn't as simple as eliminating diabetes. If diabetes is cured tomorrow, those costs don't just disappear, they get remapped to whatever other health complications and end-of-life events those people run into instead of diabetes. Then it gets complicated even further when you compare the impact to working years vs retiree years, and the resulting default rates and bankruptcies. Diabetes can represent a massive chunk of healthcare spending, and also be an inexpensive patient outcome relative to many alternatives. Both can be true at the same time.
- theklub 9y agoActually that is a really good point, keep people healthy they live longer but are very reliant on healthcare for that last 20-30 years of their life.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- conanbatt 9y agoRidiculous mindset. Healthcare is not worth infinite, we make decisions everyday to sacrifice our own health for other benefits, from taking the bus to work instead of a bike, from not eating what is best for us, from taking unnecessary risks in pursuit of pleasure, etc. Healthcare is first a necessity service like any other, like food, clothing and shelter, and that doesnt mean all the other services extract the most out of people. I get it, the U.S. healthcare system is broken beyond recognition and a fully state-sponsored solution looks like tempting next step. But lets not go overboard with patently false ideas and abstractions.
- exclusiv 9y agoIt's not a right because it's something that someone else provides. Perhaps a social good or ideal but not a right.