4 ms·

I'd say it's cruel. Paying interest on some medical procedure because you (and likely almost everyone else) cannot afford the eye-watering cost? What else do

I'd say it's cruel. Paying interest on some medical procedure because you (and likely almost everyone else) cannot afford the eye-watering cost? What else do we need to convince people that this is not sustainable? Maybe a collapse in this medical loan market? One has to assume the major players (hospitals, insurance, etc) have firewalled themselves from this system.

deleted 4y ago
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conductr 4y ago
> Maybe a collapse in this medical loan market? That won't properly highlight the issue. It's just a financial shell game of bailouts and buying and selling of paper. It doesn't impact the patients. It's not ideal but the only solution is for the patient to be rejected for insufficient funds/inability to pay. Then, when people finally realize they can't get a doctor appointment because they literally can not afford healthcare in our current system, they will expect the government to provide it. What's funny/ironic to me is that people that are against single payor in the US always like to point to other non-US countries and say how care is restricted or people with cancer/needing surgery are on a long waiting list, etc. I don't know if that's even true but we've all heard it somewhere by now and it becomes a part of their truth (not unlike like politics). And it's what they're most afraid of, being cut out... when not being able to afford something is the very definition of being cut out.
- mgkimsal 4y ago
  The US seems to have invented (or at least normalized) medi-begging - the process of posting to gofundme-type sites to help pay medical debt. The very existence of 'medial fundraising' as a thing should be the damning indicator that we need some form of single-payer across the board. Hundreds of thousands of people publicly begging for help with medical bills should be a national embarrassment.
  - conductr 4y ago
    We do a good job ignoring the economic issues of our neighbors, until it impacts our house. Overall, people are pretty vocal about wanting a living wage, affordable healthcare, affordable education, housing, etc. yet we seem to constantly move in the opposite direction. IMO - our political machine has become too dysfunctional and no longer serves the people, or even make meaningful incremental progress. It's quite a damning time for our country and seems like some large correction would be in order at some point.
    - mrguyorama 4y ago
      The big problem is that one "team" utterly refuses any help that may benefit people they don't like. We have data to support that they find solutions that benefit undesirables as a bad thing, even if it will help them. So yes, they say they want a living wage, but get really really really upset if you suggest that means the guy scanning your groceries makes as much as they do.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

conductr 4y ago

> Maybe a collapse in this medical loan market? That won't properly highlight the issue. It's just a financial shell game of bailouts and buying and selling of paper. It doesn't impact the patients. It's not ideal but the only solution is for the patient to be rejected for insufficient funds/inability to pay. Then, when people finally realize they can't get a doctor appointment because they literally can not afford healthcare in our current system, they will expect the government to provide it. What's funny/ironic to me is that people that are against single payor in the US always like to point to other non-US countries and say how care is restricted or people with cancer/needing surgery are on a long waiting list, etc. I don't know if that's even true but we've all heard it somewhere by now and it becomes a part of their truth (not unlike like politics). And it's what they're most afraid of, being cut out... when not being able to afford something is the very definition of being cut out.

mgkimsal 4y ago
The US seems to have invented (or at least normalized) medi-begging - the process of posting to gofundme-type sites to help pay medical debt. The very existence of 'medial fundraising' as a thing should be the damning indicator that we need some form of single-payer across the board. Hundreds of thousands of people publicly begging for help with medical bills should be a national embarrassment.
- conductr 4y ago
  We do a good job ignoring the economic issues of our neighbors, until it impacts our house. Overall, people are pretty vocal about wanting a living wage, affordable healthcare, affordable education, housing, etc. yet we seem to constantly move in the opposite direction. IMO - our political machine has become too dysfunctional and no longer serves the people, or even make meaningful incremental progress. It's quite a damning time for our country and seems like some large correction would be in order at some point.
  - mrguyorama 4y ago
    The big problem is that one "team" utterly refuses any help that may benefit people they don't like. We have data to support that they find solutions that benefit undesirables as a bad thing, even if it will help them. So yes, they say they want a living wage, but get really really really upset if you suggest that means the guy scanning your groceries makes as much as they do.