6 ms·

I have to say as an outsider that the USA healthcare system is a monument to US ingenuity. I doubt there is another peoples in the world that could construct an

I have to say as an outsider that the USA healthcare system is a monument to US ingenuity. I doubt there is another peoples in the world that could construct and keep partly working such a complex, inefficient, and byzantine apparatus.

deleted 7y ago
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4ntonius8lock 7y ago
Unfortunately the flip side to this is greed. No other country would put up with such blatant disregard for people's health in favor of greed.
- pfisch 7y ago
  Except for the literally hundreds of other countries that do just that... I would usually supply a list but what you said is so ridiculous I don't even think I need to. I mean I can't even think of a country where what you said is true. Greed is trumping the health of the people in basically every country in the world.
  - coenhyde 7y ago
    The only fair comparison is with other OECD countries. Unless you consider the US a third world country...
    - pfisch 7y ago
      Are you suggesting the other OECD countries don't also have an absurd wealth distribution that absolutely has a massive impact on the health of the citizens?
      - 4ntonius8lock 7y ago
        The topic you are answering to is about health care bills. It is only reasonable that people answer on topic (abusive medical billing in the US) You are going off topic (wealth distribution) to try and prove a point. This is called whataboutism (when one topic is discussed and someone says 'well what about this other topic') - it's generally frowned upon as it degrades communication for those who like to find the truth and further understanding. Whataboutism is generally classified as a sophist technique (persuasion) vs what most rational people I know value: dialectics (inquiry and understanding)
        pfisch 7y ago
        No, I am responding to this statement and staying entirely on topic: "No other country would put up with such blatant disregard for people's health in favor of greed." You are trying to limit the scope of "greed" to something that only applies to the US, when in reality it applies to pretty much every country in the world.
DoreenMichele 7y ago
We have a super secret medical club we almost never talk about in such articles and discussions: The military. The article below estimates that 7.3 percent of all living Americans have served in the military at some point in their lives. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-percentage-of-americans-have-served-in-the-military/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-percentage-of-amer... A married military member gets "free" medical coverage for their spouse and children. The ridiculous cost of having babies as a civilian is some minor out of pocket expense, medically speaking, for military members. It's common for people who aren't planning to make a career of it to try to get the kids out of the way before they exit the service. If you put in twenty years or more and retire from the military, you have lifelong medical benefits for you and your dependents. Most articles about the problems the American medical system is rife with seem to not bother to delve into what goes on in the military medical system, what percentage of our medical system it constitutes, etc. It actually makes me a little nervous to leave this comment. It makes me wonder if I am going to mess up the super secret club or something. Because it's really bizarre how we seem to completely leave out the military medical system entirely from any analysis of the American medical system.
- kn0where 7y ago
  That said, the VA is a poorly managed and IIRC poorly funded agency. Lots of dysfunction in how we provide healthcare to veterans. That’s not to say we shouldn’t try—we need to try harder.
  - rockinghigh 7y ago
    The VA may be poorly run but it is not poorly funded. For FY2020, their budget will be $220 billion. See https://www.va.gov/budget/products.asp https://www.va.gov/budget/products.asp
  - astura 7y ago
    Tricare (which is for active duty and retired) is entirely different from the VA.
- jillesvangurp 7y ago

deleted 7y ago

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4ntonius8lock 7y ago

Unfortunately the flip side to this is greed. No other country would put up with such blatant disregard for people's health in favor of greed.

pfisch 7y ago
Except for the literally hundreds of other countries that do just that... I would usually supply a list but what you said is so ridiculous I don't even think I need to. I mean I can't even think of a country where what you said is true. Greed is trumping the health of the people in basically every country in the world.
- coenhyde 7y ago
  The only fair comparison is with other OECD countries. Unless you consider the US a third world country...
  - pfisch 7y ago
    Are you suggesting the other OECD countries don't also have an absurd wealth distribution that absolutely has a massive impact on the health of the citizens?
    - 4ntonius8lock 7y ago
      The topic you are answering to is about health care bills. It is only reasonable that people answer on topic (abusive medical billing in the US) You are going off topic (wealth distribution) to try and prove a point. This is called whataboutism (when one topic is discussed and someone says 'well what about this other topic') - it's generally frowned upon as it degrades communication for those who like to find the truth and further understanding. Whataboutism is generally classified as a sophist technique (persuasion) vs what most rational people I know value: dialectics (inquiry and understanding)
      - pfisch 7y ago
        No, I am responding to this statement and staying entirely on topic: "No other country would put up with such blatant disregard for people's health in favor of greed." You are trying to limit the scope of "greed" to something that only applies to the US, when in reality it applies to pretty much every country in the world.

DoreenMichele 7y ago

We have a super secret medical club we almost never talk about in such articles and discussions: The military. The article below estimates that 7.3 percent of all living Americans have served in the military at some point in their lives. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-percentage-of-americans-have-served-in-the-military/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-percentage-of-amer... A married military member gets "free" medical coverage for their spouse and children. The ridiculous cost of having babies as a civilian is some minor out of pocket expense, medically speaking, for military members. It's common for people who aren't planning to make a career of it to try to get the kids out of the way before they exit the service. If you put in twenty years or more and retire from the military, you have lifelong medical benefits for you and your dependents. Most articles about the problems the American medical system is rife with seem to not bother to delve into what goes on in the military medical system, what percentage of our medical system it constitutes, etc. It actually makes me a little nervous to leave this comment. It makes me wonder if I am going to mess up the super secret club or something. Because it's really bizarre how we seem to completely leave out the military medical system entirely from any analysis of the American medical system.

kn0where 7y ago
That said, the VA is a poorly managed and IIRC poorly funded agency. Lots of dysfunction in how we provide healthcare to veterans. That’s not to say we shouldn’t try—we need to try harder.
- rockinghigh 7y ago
  The VA may be poorly run but it is not poorly funded. For FY2020, their budget will be $220 billion. See https://www.va.gov/budget/products.asp https://www.va.gov/budget/products.asp
- astura 7y ago
  Tricare (which is for active duty and retired) is entirely different from the VA.
jillesvangurp 7y ago