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Government healthcare (medicaid/CHIP and medicare) have gone up consistently over the decades (especially medicaid, even as a percentage of GDP). [0] The US sp

by bko 4y ago

Government healthcare (medicaid/CHIP and medicare) have gone up consistently over the decades (especially medicaid, even as a percentage of GDP). [0] The US spends more than any other country on public health care per capita than any other country in the world. Over 50% more per capita public expenditure than the runner up Norway. [1] I don't know if money is the problem [0] https://www.crfb.org/papers/american-health-care-health-spending-and-federal-budget https://www.crfb.org/papers/american-health-care-health-spen... [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/283221/per-capita-health-expenditure-by-country/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/283221/per-capita-health...

deleted 4y ago
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lotsofpulp 4y ago
That could be 95% spent on extending 80+ year olds lives for 6 months. But pay for mental healthcare workers is bottom tier, especially since the government does not have an incentive to properly reimburse work done for poor people. Certainly, there are huge issues with laws around involuntary commitment to mental institutions also and the legal costs there, but I figure the first step is creating the quality mental health institutions in the first place. It is also possible this is simply an intractable problem (I think the needed expenditures are far too big to be politically palatable), so we will just trend towards a situation where those that can afford to, erect walls and security and whatnot around their lives, like other countries with large gaps in poor and rich.
arcticbull 4y ago
The government takes all the worst 40% of customers (the poorest and the old) out of the pot, socializes them - leaving the free market to profiteer on the customers who need the least care. The generally healthy 26-65 year olds should be pooled in. Medicaid requires you basically give up your house - and most health plans normal people have come with deductibles too high to actually use. So poor folks don't seek preventative care until it's too late, pushing up prices for everyone. The whole thing is unconscionable, and the price tag you point to is a function of massive structural inefficiency and not something to be proud of. Canada provides healthcare to 100% of the population for half the per-capita cost. Norway, 66% of the per capita cost. There is no true free market for healthcare, anywhere. A free market requires voluntary agreement between buyer and seller, but regional monopolies saying 'pay up or I'll let you bleed out on the floor' ain't it.

by bko 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

lotsofpulp 4y ago

That could be 95% spent on extending 80+ year olds lives for 6 months. But pay for mental healthcare workers is bottom tier, especially since the government does not have an incentive to properly reimburse work done for poor people. Certainly, there are huge issues with laws around involuntary commitment to mental institutions also and the legal costs there, but I figure the first step is creating the quality mental health institutions in the first place. It is also possible this is simply an intractable problem (I think the needed expenditures are far too big to be politically palatable), so we will just trend towards a situation where those that can afford to, erect walls and security and whatnot around their lives, like other countries with large gaps in poor and rich.

arcticbull 4y ago

The government takes all the worst 40% of customers (the poorest and the old) out of the pot, socializes them - leaving the free market to profiteer on the customers who need the least care. The generally healthy 26-65 year olds should be pooled in. Medicaid requires you basically give up your house - and most health plans normal people have come with deductibles too high to actually use. So poor folks don't seek preventative care until it's too late, pushing up prices for everyone. The whole thing is unconscionable, and the price tag you point to is a function of massive structural inefficiency and not something to be proud of. Canada provides healthcare to 100% of the population for half the per-capita cost. Norway, 66% of the per capita cost. There is no true free market for healthcare, anywhere. A free market requires voluntary agreement between buyer and seller, but regional monopolies saying 'pay up or I'll let you bleed out on the floor' ain't it.