2 ms·

It’s the same pattern as Obamacare. Reinforce the existing private insurer system by injecting more government funding while preserving policy that ensures scar

It’s the same pattern as Obamacare. Reinforce the existing private insurer system by injecting more government funding while preserving policy that ensures scarcity. This bill functionally sharpens the consequences of being too poor to afford insurance and too employed to qualify for Medicaid.

bombcar 5y ago
Which shows that there's really no desire on either side to actually address the problem, just to bandaid over it enough so that the status quo can continue.
- notch656a 5y ago
  No is problem, you can buy pharma stocks and reap the profits yourself. Then use said profits to buy your insulin. s/
- tzs 5y ago
  ACA was largely responsible for the cutting the number of uninsured in the US in half [1]. For the 28% of the US population with family income below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, the reduction in uninsured as even bigger. That was hardly just maintaining the status quo. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/200957/percentage-of-americans-without-health-insurance/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/200957/percentage-of-ame...
  - notch656a 5y ago
    Agree it broke the status quo for percent uninsured. Not quite as much the status quo in the structuring of healthcare in the US, which seems to be ever leaning towards more bureaucracy, regulatory capture, regulatory costs, insane tort/legal risks, and dead weight. Also part of the big drop in uninsured was the lining up of people to the wall with the weapon of the tax-man cocked, saying "pay up or else." When the penalties ended the uninsured rate started to go back up again. Not my favorite way to do things, and I question how much of that was out of benevolence.
    - zajio1am 5y ago
      > Also part of the big drop in uninsured was the lining up of people to the wall with the weapon of the tax-man cocked, saying "pay up or else." Yes, but that is also true for (AFAIK) most public health systems. I live in a country with strong public health system where almost everything is 100% paid from public insurance, but if i had stopped paying insurance payments, i would have met debt collectors confiscating my property.
      - notch656a 5y ago
        It seems the way to actually make healthcare more affordable is to find ways to make healthcare less expensive. Otherwise you're just playing a game of who pays the outrageous costs.
  - kcplate 5y ago
    Yeah ACA was great. I saw it first hand within my own family provide an older quote wealthy family member with some obscenely cheap insurance, compared to young blue collar family member who had to opt out and just pay the tax fine because it made health insurance completely unaffordable for his family.
- nopenopenopeno 5y ago
  I think that’s being too generous. These efforts have a very distinct goal: reinforce defensives against universal healthcare program to preserve the health insurance gravy train for the ruling class, and preserve the employer-based health insurance system that helps to keep so many Americans in fear of losing their jobs. Health insurance industry’s annual profits havey increased very significantly since Obamacare passed in 2010 [1]. These sorts of efforts effectively make the insurance lobby even stronger that it would be otherwise. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertlaszewski2/2020/02/05/profitability-in-the-health-care-market-has-never-been-better https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertlaszewski2/2020/02/05/pro...
- theptip 5y ago
  To be fair, Obama was pushing for single payer in 2008 (“Medicare for all”) and took it off the table to try to get some Republicans on board. And the Sanders/Warren wing of the party is pushing hard for Medicare for all right now. CA is close to implementing a public option. Hillary Clinton also pushed for healthcare reform while a senator IIRC, and I believe some Republican governors have pushed for sensible reforms too. In general I think cynicism in politicians is not misplaced when there are lobbyists involved, but on this issue I don’t think blame is symmetrically justified. The red team won’t even let Medicare use its volume purchase bargaining power to negotiate cheaper prices.

bombcar 5y ago

Which shows that there's really no desire on either side to actually address the problem, just to bandaid over it enough so that the status quo can continue.

notch656a 5y ago
No is problem, you can buy pharma stocks and reap the profits yourself. Then use said profits to buy your insulin. s/
tzs 5y ago
ACA was largely responsible for the cutting the number of uninsured in the US in half [1]. For the 28% of the US population with family income below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, the reduction in uninsured as even bigger. That was hardly just maintaining the status quo. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/200957/percentage-of-americans-without-health-insurance/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/200957/percentage-of-ame...
- notch656a 5y ago
  Agree it broke the status quo for percent uninsured. Not quite as much the status quo in the structuring of healthcare in the US, which seems to be ever leaning towards more bureaucracy, regulatory capture, regulatory costs, insane tort/legal risks, and dead weight. Also part of the big drop in uninsured was the lining up of people to the wall with the weapon of the tax-man cocked, saying "pay up or else." When the penalties ended the uninsured rate started to go back up again. Not my favorite way to do things, and I question how much of that was out of benevolence.
  - zajio1am 5y ago
    > Also part of the big drop in uninsured was the lining up of people to the wall with the weapon of the tax-man cocked, saying "pay up or else." Yes, but that is also true for (AFAIK) most public health systems. I live in a country with strong public health system where almost everything is 100% paid from public insurance, but if i had stopped paying insurance payments, i would have met debt collectors confiscating my property.
    - notch656a 5y ago
      It seems the way to actually make healthcare more affordable is to find ways to make healthcare less expensive. Otherwise you're just playing a game of who pays the outrageous costs.
- kcplate 5y ago
  Yeah ACA was great. I saw it first hand within my own family provide an older quote wealthy family member with some obscenely cheap insurance, compared to young blue collar family member who had to opt out and just pay the tax fine because it made health insurance completely unaffordable for his family.
nopenopenopeno 5y ago
I think that’s being too generous. These efforts have a very distinct goal: reinforce defensives against universal healthcare program to preserve the health insurance gravy train for the ruling class, and preserve the employer-based health insurance system that helps to keep so many Americans in fear of losing their jobs. Health insurance industry’s annual profits havey increased very significantly since Obamacare passed in 2010 [1]. These sorts of efforts effectively make the insurance lobby even stronger that it would be otherwise. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertlaszewski2/2020/02/05/profitability-in-the-health-care-market-has-never-been-better https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertlaszewski2/2020/02/05/pro...
theptip 5y ago
To be fair, Obama was pushing for single payer in 2008 (“Medicare for all”) and took it off the table to try to get some Republicans on board. And the Sanders/Warren wing of the party is pushing hard for Medicare for all right now. CA is close to implementing a public option. Hillary Clinton also pushed for healthcare reform while a senator IIRC, and I believe some Republican governors have pushed for sensible reforms too. In general I think cynicism in politicians is not misplaced when there are lobbyists involved, but on this issue I don’t think blame is symmetrically justified. The red team won’t even let Medicare use its volume purchase bargaining power to negotiate cheaper prices.