3 ms·
For me personally, it's another 80/20 problem. We've gotten our 80% result for 20% the effort/cost and now we're into the 80% of the effort/cost for 20% of the
by curryst 5y ago
For me personally, it's another 80/20 problem. We've gotten our 80% result for 20% the effort/cost and now we're into the 80% of the effort/cost for 20% of the gain territory. At least with our current level of technology.
Meanwhile, I think there are other causes that haven't hit that inversion yet. 88,000 people die from diabetes each year. If we've got money that we're willing to splash on preventing deaths, why not take the easy win and have the government pay for everyone's insulin? There's no risk to privacy, no dubious "will this prevent me getting to work when I'm sober" questions, and no questions about efficacy.
If the goal is to prevent death, this seems like one of the most dubious methods of getting there. There are 17 million new cars sold in the US per year. If we're conservative on pricing and say it costs $10/car to add this, that's $170,000,000/year, or roughly $17,000 per prevented death. $17,000 a lot. That's health insurance premiums for like 3 families for a year. That's nearly a 5 year supply of the most expensive insulin on the market. That's enough to send someone to rehab.
- azinman2 5y agoThe government needs to walk and chew gum at the same time. It’s not like focusing on cars takes away from diabetes, or that they’re ever considered from the same regulatory perspective. Re diabetes, personally I’d rather see shifts in food supply and diet / offerings in the US. It’s pretty clear that fast food, soda, endless snacks, and the rest that mega food cos “innovate” is driving diabetes and a whole host of other conditions. Not an easy problem to solve under the guise of freedom to eat what you want, but we’ve been able to successfully minimize tobacco usage so why not junk food? Government providing anything medical comes with a whole pile of political culture war.