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Are you aware that the US government already spends far more on health care than it does on the military? Half the US defense budget is no where near the amoun

Are you aware that the US government already spends far more on health care than it does on the military? Half the US defense budget is no where near the amount spent on healthcare in the private sector.

bryanrasmussen 5y ago
I wasn't, so I went and looked it up and you were right from what I found - Healthcare: The federal government spent nearly $1.2 trillion in fiscal year 2019. In addition, income tax expenditures for health care totaled $234 billion. https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-much-does-federal-government-spend-health-care https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-much-does-... Defense: Defense spending amounted to $714 billion in FY 2020—and is expected to increase to $733 billion in FY 2021. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-415t https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-415t
- bryanrasmussen 5y ago
  although I guess it is true the U.S could cut defense spending less than in half and pay 234 billion for everyone, so the original comment isn't totally off.
  - l33t2328 5y ago
    That’s not accounting private insurance, which is more than a trillion per year[1] [1] https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Sta...
    - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
      thanks! didn't know that.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- VictorPath 5y ago
  > Defense spending amounted to $714 billion in FY 2020—and is expected to increase to $733 billion in FY 2021. A soldier whose leg was blown up in Afghanistan and is still in a hospital - is not part of that $714-733 billion. So the US military budget is only that low if your definition of "defense" spending does not cover that. The reality is the US spends over one trillion a year in military spending. Your own link says as much. It puts "Veteran's medical care" under the health care entitlement side of the equation, as opposed to the military spending side of the equation.
  - l33t2328 5y ago
    > A soldier whose leg was blown up in Afghanistan and is still in a hospital - is not part of that $714-733 billion. Where are you getting that? From here https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IF11442.pdf https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IF11442.pdf and the link in the comment you responded to it seems that it is only about 80 billion. Even if you add that to the 700 billion figure for the military, and add 200 billion for the entire VA, Medicare and Medicade alone account for well over a trillion dollars, and that’s not even the majority of healthcare expenses in the US.
    - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
      >Medicare and Medicade alone account for well over a trillion dollars, damn, right again. That sure is a mind blowing situation the U.S is in. https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Sta... Medicare spending grew 6.7% to $799.4 billion in 2019, or 21 percent of total NHE. Medicaid spending grew 2.9% to $613.5 billion in 2019, or 16 percent of total NHE.
  - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
    >A soldier whose leg was blown up in Afghanistan and is still in a hospital - is not part of that $714-733 billion. first off I thought it was clear from my comment that I had not believed the original comment that healthcare was greater than defense spending, but some initial investigation seems to confirm it. The reason that I had not believed it was that I thought there was an ideological axe to grind behind the statement, so I was surprised. It seems to me that you maybe are thinking the same thing about me, that is to say I have an ideological axe to grind proving that U.S defense spending is not that high. If so a quick examination of my posting history and the posts here should dissuade you of this. As far as your argument - I agree the medical costs of the soldier still in the hospital should probably be counted in defense costs somehow but not sure how you would do it as I do not believe a veteran out in the job market working 9-5 and going to the VA for some medical costs should be counted as defense spending. Thus I don't think it is possible to just move all the costs of the VA over and get any fairer an accounting than one has now.
dmitriid 5y ago
> Are you aware that the US government already spends far more on health care than it does on the military At least 34% of that is spent on admin alone: https://time.com/5759972/health-care-administrative-costs/ https://time.com/5759972/health-care-administrative-costs/ and most of that is on privately insurers overhead. > Half the US defense budget is no where near the amount spent on healthcare in the private sector It would be way more than enough if there was some political will behind it.
- l33t2328 5y ago
  > and most of that is on privately insurers overhead. It’s true that the plurality of healthcare costs are private insurance, but medicare and medicade combine to a little less than twice the entire defense budget. The US government could cut significantly into the out of pocket expenses if they halved the defense budget. This link is interesting: https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Sta...

bryanrasmussen 5y ago

I wasn't, so I went and looked it up and you were right from what I found - Healthcare: The federal government spent nearly $1.2 trillion in fiscal year 2019. In addition, income tax expenditures for health care totaled $234 billion. https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-much-does-federal-government-spend-health-care https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-much-does-... Defense: Defense spending amounted to $714 billion in FY 2020—and is expected to increase to $733 billion in FY 2021. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-415t https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-415t

bryanrasmussen 5y ago
although I guess it is true the U.S could cut defense spending less than in half and pay 234 billion for everyone, so the original comment isn't totally off.
- l33t2328 5y ago
  That’s not accounting private insurance, which is more than a trillion per year[1] [1] https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Sta...
  - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
    thanks! didn't know that.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
VictorPath 5y ago
> Defense spending amounted to $714 billion in FY 2020—and is expected to increase to $733 billion in FY 2021. A soldier whose leg was blown up in Afghanistan and is still in a hospital - is not part of that $714-733 billion. So the US military budget is only that low if your definition of "defense" spending does not cover that. The reality is the US spends over one trillion a year in military spending. Your own link says as much. It puts "Veteran's medical care" under the health care entitlement side of the equation, as opposed to the military spending side of the equation.
- l33t2328 5y ago
  > A soldier whose leg was blown up in Afghanistan and is still in a hospital - is not part of that $714-733 billion. Where are you getting that? From here https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IF11442.pdf https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/IF11442.pdf and the link in the comment you responded to it seems that it is only about 80 billion. Even if you add that to the 700 billion figure for the military, and add 200 billion for the entire VA, Medicare and Medicade alone account for well over a trillion dollars, and that’s not even the majority of healthcare expenses in the US.
  - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
    >Medicare and Medicade alone account for well over a trillion dollars, damn, right again. That sure is a mind blowing situation the U.S is in. https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Sta... Medicare spending grew 6.7% to $799.4 billion in 2019, or 21 percent of total NHE. Medicaid spending grew 2.9% to $613.5 billion in 2019, or 16 percent of total NHE.
- bryanrasmussen 5y ago
  >A soldier whose leg was blown up in Afghanistan and is still in a hospital - is not part of that $714-733 billion. first off I thought it was clear from my comment that I had not believed the original comment that healthcare was greater than defense spending, but some initial investigation seems to confirm it. The reason that I had not believed it was that I thought there was an ideological axe to grind behind the statement, so I was surprised. It seems to me that you maybe are thinking the same thing about me, that is to say I have an ideological axe to grind proving that U.S defense spending is not that high. If so a quick examination of my posting history and the posts here should dissuade you of this. As far as your argument - I agree the medical costs of the soldier still in the hospital should probably be counted in defense costs somehow but not sure how you would do it as I do not believe a veteran out in the job market working 9-5 and going to the VA for some medical costs should be counted as defense spending. Thus I don't think it is possible to just move all the costs of the VA over and get any fairer an accounting than one has now.

dmitriid 5y ago

> Are you aware that the US government already spends far more on health care than it does on the military At least 34% of that is spent on admin alone: https://time.com/5759972/health-care-administrative-costs/ https://time.com/5759972/health-care-administrative-costs/ and most of that is on privately insurers overhead. > Half the US defense budget is no where near the amount spent on healthcare in the private sector It would be way more than enough if there was some political will behind it.

l33t2328 5y ago
> and most of that is on privately insurers overhead. It’s true that the plurality of healthcare costs are private insurance, but medicare and medicade combine to a little less than twice the entire defense budget. The US government could cut significantly into the out of pocket expenses if they halved the defense budget. This link is interesting: https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Sta...