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Can you not buy more or less as unhealthy products in countries with universal healthcare as in US? e.g. smoking rate is considerably higher in France or even

Can you not buy more or less as unhealthy products in countries with universal healthcare as in US? e.g. smoking rate is considerably higher in France or even in Spain Sugar consumption isn't relatively that high either compared to most European countries: https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-details/GHO/ORALHEALTH_SUGAR_AVAILABILITY https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/indicators/indicator-detai...

JumpinJack_Cash 2y ago
> > smoking rate is considerably higher in France or even in Spain But they somehow compensate with other good habits considering that lifespan and healthspan is greater than the US. Then we can get into a whole different conversation about the intensity of one's life in the US v. Europe not just the lenght, but that is a whole different conversation.
Eumenes 2y ago
America's poor use EBT/food stamps to buy massive amounts of junk food, including billions on soda. Those same people are almost 100% on ACA or state health insurance plans and milking the tax payer on treatment for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. There is no way, in my mind, it is feasible to fund these lifestyles and provide the treatment for it. Its absolutely insane.
- HappySweeney 2y ago
  The soda is not consumed by the food stamp holder. It's used as a medium to convert the balance to cash.
- bluGill 2y ago
  Do they? Food stamps in most states have restrictions on what you can buy with them. My impression is soda is not on the list. Of course this is (mostly?) the states and every state has different rules so you probably need to cite 50 different state rules to verify this and thus an exception state is likely.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - mtalantikite 2y ago
    This is an ongoing debate, but afaik you can use them for soda [1]. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/well/eat/food-stamp-snap-soda.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/well/eat/food-stamp-snap-...
sitkack 2y ago
That isn't the argument I made. Processed food industries actively block healthcare reforms because they fear being regulated for the now obvious public good.
- signatoremo 2y ago
  Any source of that claim? That processed food manufacturers lobbied against universal healthcare for fear of regulation against their products?
- Wytwwww 2y ago
  Perhaps. But I don't think that's the public consensus. So it's hard to accept such arguments without any evidence. AFAIK in Europe most food safety regulation is coming from the EU directly and not the national governments. Also it's not like all countries in Europe have public tax funded healthcare systems. Fundamentally some are inherently not that different from the one in the US (i.e. semi-private or even entirely privatized) it's just that they much better regulated and much more efficient. Even if we exclude private spending the US government already spends more per capita on healthcare than most other countries so why would anything change if e.g. Medicare was extended to a higher proportion of the population?

JumpinJack_Cash 2y ago

> > smoking rate is considerably higher in France or even in Spain But they somehow compensate with other good habits considering that lifespan and healthspan is greater than the US. Then we can get into a whole different conversation about the intensity of one's life in the US v. Europe not just the lenght, but that is a whole different conversation.

Eumenes 2y ago

America's poor use EBT/food stamps to buy massive amounts of junk food, including billions on soda. Those same people are almost 100% on ACA or state health insurance plans and milking the tax payer on treatment for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. There is no way, in my mind, it is feasible to fund these lifestyles and provide the treatment for it. Its absolutely insane.

HappySweeney 2y ago
The soda is not consumed by the food stamp holder. It's used as a medium to convert the balance to cash.
bluGill 2y ago
Do they? Food stamps in most states have restrictions on what you can buy with them. My impression is soda is not on the list. Of course this is (mostly?) the states and every state has different rules so you probably need to cite 50 different state rules to verify this and thus an exception state is likely.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- mtalantikite 2y ago
  This is an ongoing debate, but afaik you can use them for soda [1]. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/well/eat/food-stamp-snap-soda.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/13/well/eat/food-stamp-snap-...

sitkack 2y ago

That isn't the argument I made. Processed food industries actively block healthcare reforms because they fear being regulated for the now obvious public good.

signatoremo 2y ago
Any source of that claim? That processed food manufacturers lobbied against universal healthcare for fear of regulation against their products?
Wytwwww 2y ago
Perhaps. But I don't think that's the public consensus. So it's hard to accept such arguments without any evidence. AFAIK in Europe most food safety regulation is coming from the EU directly and not the national governments. Also it's not like all countries in Europe have public tax funded healthcare systems. Fundamentally some are inherently not that different from the one in the US (i.e. semi-private or even entirely privatized) it's just that they much better regulated and much more efficient. Even if we exclude private spending the US government already spends more per capita on healthcare than most other countries so why would anything change if e.g. Medicare was extended to a higher proportion of the population?