3 ms·

What if there were other ways besides raising taxes to fix the problems with our current system? How would you feel about that?

by krupan 8y ago

infinite8s 8y ago
You've been pushing this reply around to various comments without actually mentioning any of these other ways. What are you proposing?
- krupan 8y ago
  I'm proposing we don't accept higher taxes and/or universal health care as foregone conclusions. I think we can do better than just sitting here on hacker news and smugly mocking those who "don't get it."
  - Amezarak 8y ago
    If you take away my 20k health insurance premiums (many commenters are not counting employer contributions), tax me an extra 20k, and now I have no deductible and can switch jobs fearlessly, how am I not better off?
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    Maybe you should make some specific proposals. Otherwise your statement is totally empty.
jasonjayr 8y ago
As long as the other ways require less effort for the patient/care receiver to worry about where to find quality health care, I'm game. If I have to shop in a market full of confusing terms, exceptions, reams of paperwork (I am not a medical expert) the solution is already crap. When it comes to health care, the a provider should not have an opportunity to gain advantage by segmenting the market into different groups or risk pools, or hiding behind long and complex policies that require a subject matter expert to understand.
- acdha 8y ago
  Before the ACA, a colleague with a small consultancy (IIRC ~10 people) discussed how ridiculous the term “market” was: none of the companies would even tell him the coverage details for the plan (“each member will get a booklet”) so the idea of shopping around was positively Kafkaesque, lacking basic information and having substantial time and cost penalties if you realized you made a mistake and wanted to switch.

3 ms·

What if there were other ways besides raising taxes to fix the problems with our current system? How would you feel about that?

by krupan 8y ago

What if there were other ways besides raising taxes to fix the problems with our current system? How would you feel about that?

infinite8s 8y ago
You've been pushing this reply around to various comments without actually mentioning any of these other ways. What are you proposing?
- krupan 8y ago
  I'm proposing we don't accept higher taxes and/or universal health care as foregone conclusions. I think we can do better than just sitting here on hacker news and smugly mocking those who "don't get it."
  - Amezarak 8y ago
    If you take away my 20k health insurance premiums (many commenters are not counting employer contributions), tax me an extra 20k, and now I have no deductible and can switch jobs fearlessly, how am I not better off?
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    Maybe you should make some specific proposals. Otherwise your statement is totally empty.
jasonjayr 8y ago
As long as the other ways require less effort for the patient/care receiver to worry about where to find quality health care, I'm game. If I have to shop in a market full of confusing terms, exceptions, reams of paperwork (I am not a medical expert) the solution is already crap. When it comes to health care, the a provider should not have an opportunity to gain advantage by segmenting the market into different groups or risk pools, or hiding behind long and complex policies that require a subject matter expert to understand.
- acdha 8y ago
  Before the ACA, a colleague with a small consultancy (IIRC ~10 people) discussed how ridiculous the term “market” was: none of the companies would even tell him the coverage details for the plan (“each member will get a booklet”) so the idea of shopping around was positively Kafkaesque, lacking basic information and having substantial time and cost penalties if you realized you made a mistake and wanted to switch.