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This bill doesn't ban private insurance, it does however have this rule: "Private insurance that duplicates benefits offered under New York Health could not be

This bill doesn't ban private insurance, it does however have this rule: "Private insurance that duplicates benefits offered under New York Health could not be offered to New York residents." So in other words, private insurances can only be offered if they provide benefits that surpass whatever the public option has. I imagine that private insurances will logically offer more benefits regardless, otherwise why would someone pay extra to use them over the public option?

codefreeordie 4y ago
that will mean, though, that it will be impossible to get insurance to actually cover the things that the public system "covers" if you wait 35,600 years for your turn
- monocasa 4y ago
  Why? Wouldn't a line skip be by definition something that the public system isn't offering?
  - codefreeordie 4y ago
    I haven't read the full text of the bill, but presumably not. The intent will be to disallow private coverage for any service that the government would provide, specifically because they would want to make sure that people with money couldn't avoid the public system. That's how it ends up working in many places with government care
    - monocasa 4y ago
      I don't know of any healthcare system where what you're describing is the case outside of outliers like North Korea. Even in the UK with NHS, there's a whole system of private insurance and private hospitals too.
    - kmonsen 4y ago
      In Norway and UK there is public healthcare, but you can pay to skip the lines if you want to. I don't know why we would go full socialist in the US when living in a capitalist society. Should we only get cars allocated to us or something as well? I am not hugely in favor or capitalism, but I can't see anything better or a way to replace it even though I am a social democrat. Let people with money spend them as long as we provide a decent floor for everyone.
- version_five 4y ago
  I went to a clinic in Canada a few years ago to see a doctor. My provincial health card had expired and I didn't know. I was sick and wanted a consultation with the doctor. I said I would pay cash and was told that they are not allowed to charge people who are eligible for public healthcare. So I had to go and wait at our equivalent of the DMV (while sick and seeking medical attention) to get my health card renewed before I could see a doctor. I'm sure there are countless bureaucratic nightmare stories coming out of the US health insurance system, there will be countless more under a public system
- version_five 4y ago
  Don't know why you were modded down (well I do but I don't want to start a fight), this is exactly how it works in Canada. I know people who have been told to wait years for tests or consultations. Those who can afford it go to the US.
  - codefreeordie 4y ago
    Yes, it is very common, but HN is one of those places where one is required to have the community's approved opinions on things, and even the approved supposed-facts on things. Of course many systems, including Canada's have this problem. The primary motivation for governments to prohibit private competition is specifically so that they can pretend that it can't be better elsewhere, to keep their system alive. If people realized how likely they were to suffer for years utterly unnecessarily, they wouldn't be willing to put up with the government health systems they have. But because the government banned competition to keep them ignorant of the alternative, people remain peaceful while they wait in pain for years to get treatment that is utterly routine in America.
- op00to 4y ago
  You realize the only reason rich Americans don’t wait for healthcare is because poor Americans aren’t getting much if any care.
  - version_five 4y ago
    This shows a serious misunderstanding of pretty much everything (I mean that). It's not a zero sum game.
    - op00to 4y ago
      Where will the additional doctors and MRI machines come from if more folks had access to healthcare? If all the uninsured in my state suddenly had the same access to health care as I did, there would be 700,000 additional people who need primary care physicians, OBGYNs, psychiatrists, and so on. I think it would be a net good, but I would absolutely expect that the wait time for treatment would go up. You can't just snap doctors into existence. (I mean that) Healthcare in the US isn't fair for anyone.

codefreeordie 4y ago

that will mean, though, that it will be impossible to get insurance to actually cover the things that the public system "covers" if you wait 35,600 years for your turn

monocasa 4y ago
Why? Wouldn't a line skip be by definition something that the public system isn't offering?
- codefreeordie 4y ago
  I haven't read the full text of the bill, but presumably not. The intent will be to disallow private coverage for any service that the government would provide, specifically because they would want to make sure that people with money couldn't avoid the public system. That's how it ends up working in many places with government care
  - monocasa 4y ago
    I don't know of any healthcare system where what you're describing is the case outside of outliers like North Korea. Even in the UK with NHS, there's a whole system of private insurance and private hospitals too.
  - kmonsen 4y ago
    In Norway and UK there is public healthcare, but you can pay to skip the lines if you want to. I don't know why we would go full socialist in the US when living in a capitalist society. Should we only get cars allocated to us or something as well? I am not hugely in favor or capitalism, but I can't see anything better or a way to replace it even though I am a social democrat. Let people with money spend them as long as we provide a decent floor for everyone.
version_five 4y ago
I went to a clinic in Canada a few years ago to see a doctor. My provincial health card had expired and I didn't know. I was sick and wanted a consultation with the doctor. I said I would pay cash and was told that they are not allowed to charge people who are eligible for public healthcare. So I had to go and wait at our equivalent of the DMV (while sick and seeking medical attention) to get my health card renewed before I could see a doctor. I'm sure there are countless bureaucratic nightmare stories coming out of the US health insurance system, there will be countless more under a public system
version_five 4y ago
Don't know why you were modded down (well I do but I don't want to start a fight), this is exactly how it works in Canada. I know people who have been told to wait years for tests or consultations. Those who can afford it go to the US.
- codefreeordie 4y ago
  Yes, it is very common, but HN is one of those places where one is required to have the community's approved opinions on things, and even the approved supposed-facts on things. Of course many systems, including Canada's have this problem. The primary motivation for governments to prohibit private competition is specifically so that they can pretend that it can't be better elsewhere, to keep their system alive. If people realized how likely they were to suffer for years utterly unnecessarily, they wouldn't be willing to put up with the government health systems they have. But because the government banned competition to keep them ignorant of the alternative, people remain peaceful while they wait in pain for years to get treatment that is utterly routine in America.
op00to 4y ago
You realize the only reason rich Americans don’t wait for healthcare is because poor Americans aren’t getting much if any care.
- version_five 4y ago
  This shows a serious misunderstanding of pretty much everything (I mean that). It's not a zero sum game.
  - op00to 4y ago
    Where will the additional doctors and MRI machines come from if more folks had access to healthcare? If all the uninsured in my state suddenly had the same access to health care as I did, there would be 700,000 additional people who need primary care physicians, OBGYNs, psychiatrists, and so on. I think it would be a net good, but I would absolutely expect that the wait time for treatment would go up. You can't just snap doctors into existence. (I mean that) Healthcare in the US isn't fair for anyone.