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There are political concerns as well. As the article mentions, healthcare spending is 17% of U.S. GDP (which is an absolutely insane figure). Healthcare jobs ac

by sumy23 4y ago

There are political concerns as well. As the article mentions, healthcare spending is 17% of U.S. GDP (which is an absolutely insane figure). Healthcare jobs account for 14% of the workforce according to Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey. You can't get the first number down (17% of GDP) without impacting the second number (14% of jobs). I agree that single-payer would be a net benefit, but the U.S. hasn't shown much appetite for such tough political decisions.

nopenopenopeno 4y ago
The same logic can be applied to literally anything in a capitalist society. If the current way of doing things employs people, we can’t possibly do it any other way.
- sumy23 4y ago
  Yes, but 14% of jobs is a huge number. Healthcare is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, employment sectors.
  - nopenopenopeno 4y ago
    Then replace 1% of it at a time. This is extremely basic stuff if you have any genuine interest in actually doing it.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    If you really want to solve it, and have the political willpower, you just do it over time. Nationalize all hospitals and insurance companies, and continue to run them as they currently are, and slowly streamline systems over decades, and don't hire replacements for retirees.
robocat 4y ago
To agree: most wealthy countries spend somewhere between 10% and 12%[1] of GDP on healthcare. The USA is an outlier in %GDP, and total spending per capita[2], for lower life expectancy - check this graph: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Life_expectancy_vs_healthcare_spending.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Life_expectancy_vs_health... [1] https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS?most_recent_value_desc=true https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS?most_... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_per_capita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_hea...

by sumy23 4y ago

nopenopenopeno 4y ago

The same logic can be applied to literally anything in a capitalist society. If the current way of doing things employs people, we can’t possibly do it any other way.

sumy23 4y ago
Yes, but 14% of jobs is a huge number. Healthcare is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, employment sectors.
- nopenopenopeno 4y ago
  Then replace 1% of it at a time. This is extremely basic stuff if you have any genuine interest in actually doing it.
- bombcar 4y ago
  If you really want to solve it, and have the political willpower, you just do it over time. Nationalize all hospitals and insurance companies, and continue to run them as they currently are, and slowly streamline systems over decades, and don't hire replacements for retirees.

robocat 4y ago

To agree: most wealthy countries spend somewhere between 10% and 12%[1] of GDP on healthcare. The USA is an outlier in %GDP, and total spending per capita[2], for lower life expectancy - check this graph: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Life_expectancy_vs_healthcare_spending.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Life_expectancy_vs_health... [1] https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS?most_recent_value_desc=true https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.XPD.CHEX.GD.ZS?most_... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_health_expenditure_per_capita https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_total_hea...