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Can someone knowledgeable about politics/policy please clarify to me what the United State’s old healthcare policy is/was and what the new Obama-care plan is?
Any info would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
The old plan was if you are poor you die.
The new plan is you die.
The old plan was if you are poor you die.
The new plan is you die.
I disagree.
The old plan was the doctor decides when it’s time for you to die.
The new plan is the government decides when it’s time for you to die.
hey, you wanna be serious, or you wanna have fun
Kupat Cholim seems to work nicely in Israel and the government does not tell you when to die
You realy want to know whats in the health care bill? even the law makers dont know, most didnt read it before voting on it.
Kupat Cholim seems to work nicely in Israel
Yes, and that is why I can’t get through shma without someone from Israel asking me to help pay for their kid’s surgery.
“what the United State’s old healthcare policy is/was”
Old:
Universal government-provided health insurance for almost all Americans 65 and over (Medicare), and for all Americans who qualify as very poor (Medicaid). Everyone else is subject to the whims of the free market as limited by state, but not federal, regulation.
New (post 2014):
Medicare is pretty much unchanged. It is easier to qualify for Medicaid. Everyone else has guaranteed enrollment into a private health insurance plan, and there will be a small penalty for those who do not enroll. The Affordable Care Act also included additional funding to expand primary care clinics, but the Republicans are probably going to succeed in killing that additional funding.
Between Old and 2014:
Far too complicated to explain!
there will be a small penalty for those who do not enroll
Wasn’t that declared unconstitutional (subject to appeal)? I understand that if that part doesn’t hold up, there’s no way the system can pay for itself and we’ll end up with a system like they have in Canada (which many wouldn’t mind, and many would).
“Medicare is pretty much unchanged.”
There is a “small” change to medicare, half a trilion dollars riped out over the next ten years to fund Obamacare.
There is a “small” change to medicare, half a trilion dollars riped out over the next ten years to fund Obamacare.
I know. And amazingly, AARPs supported it. I couldn’t believe it; it only hurt seniors, and they supported it.
Just goes to show how these big organizations are all ideology, and don’t care a whit about their constituency.
There is a “small” change to medicare, half a trilion dollars riped out
They won’t need the money, since they plan on having fewer old people around.
zehava’s dad — What makes you think “Kupat Cholim seems to work nicely in Israel and the government does not tell you when to die”? Whether it works well or not is somewhat questionable (I was much happier with the system in the U.S.), but the second half of your statement is completely false. The standard “basket of services” (what procedures, etc. are or are not covered) are most certainly determined by the government via the Health Care law. If a procedure, medication, etc. is covered, you get it. If not you can pay for it privately or go without (and possibly die) unless you have private or upgraded insurance which covers more things. In that case, the insurance companies decide if you get the procedure or not.
Bottom line is that health care is limited, so it is always rationed in some way, either via the free market(i.e. if you can afford to purchase it), or via government policy. Even in socialized medicine systems like Israel, those who are rich have a better chance then those who are poor, as they can access healthcare in both ways — through the regular Kuppah, or by purchasing extras on the free market. If you tried to make that illegal you’d just open yourself up to a black market in health care, as there will always be providers willing to sell their services for the right amount of money.
The major pro is that for the first time, all Americans will have guaranteed access to health insurance. Every other developed country in the world offers this. That insurance is mandatory for most will limit the cost-shifting in which those of us with insurance pay for the care of those without insurance through higher fees.
There are some cons. Unfortunately, many will choose to pay the penalty rather than buy insurance thus there will still be cost-shifting. Illegal immigrants also aren’t eligible so we will end up paying for their care through higher fees. Providing insurance through private companies is far less efficient than providing insurance through government plans because of the higher administrative overhead. Much money could have been saved by simply extending Medicare eligibility to everyone. There is a near-religious faith that private sector competition will reduce health care costs, but the actual evidence for that is scanty yet the Affordable Care Act assumes that there will be such cost savings. The Affordable Care Act provided for dramatic increases in funding for primary care clinics in order to head off a likely shortage of primary care physicians, but that increase in funding will probably be minimal because of Republican opposition.
There is a nice Wikipedia article describing the provisions in more detail. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patient_Protection_and_Affordable_Care_Act
Our great health care system
I HAVE insurance and its decent, Blue Cross is about as good as you are going to get.
I had to go to the ER the other night , The ER visit has a Co-pay of $75 and I will get bills from the ER doctors (because they dont take insurance) that I will have to fight with the insurance company to pay.
I then had to pay $25 in Co-Pays for the medication, remind you I HAVE INSURANCE that I pay $7000 a year for (and thats the subsidized amount, not the real amount)
‘There is a “small” change to medicare, half a trilion dollars riped out over the next ten years to fund Obamacare.’
This is not accurate. What is true is that the law implements policy changes that would result in slower growth in the cost of the program amounting to five hundred million dollars over time. The largest contribution to that change was a reduction in the subsidies being paid to private health insurers.
“AARPs supported it. I couldn’t believe it; it only hurt seniors, and they supported it. Just goes to show how these big organizations are all ideology, and don’t care a whit about their constituency.”
Wrong. AARP has many members age 50-65 who are not eligible for Medicare and can’t get insurance at all today, at any price, because of pre-existing conditions. They are definitely worried about all their members.
m in Israel,
I’m not familiar with the details of the Israeli system, but I spent last week with people in England who are intimately involved with the UK’s system. They have a cost-effectiveness criteria by which any procedure or drug that is below the threshold gets covered, and any that is over does not. My colleagues there were active in a controversy over a new treatment for which the drug company decided to charge an absolutely extortionistic price. The UK government (correctly) balked. I agreed with this decision because the new treatment had minimal efficacy over what had been available.
And that is true for many of the treatments that both private and government insurers don’t want to cover. There was a recent controversy here in America because the FDA refused to allow a particular cancer treatment for a particular cancer type because it had been proven not to extend life and not to improve quality of life. As a result, neither government or private insurers will pay for it. Yet people complained that the FDA was killing people! Frankly, a drug that has been proven to neither extend life nor to improve quality of life is about the first thing I would drop from coverage. Nevertheless people can still buy the drug and doctors can prescribe it.
“we’ll end up with a system like they have in Canada (which many wouldn’t mind, and many would).”
The main disadvantage of the Canadian system, as applied to the US, would be massive unemployment among the paper-pushers at private insurance companies. But we would be spending much less for health care and likely get better outcomes.
The main disadvantage of the Canadian system, as applied to the US, would be massive unemployment among the paper-pushers at private insurance companies. But we would be spending much less for health care and likely get better outcomes.
charliehall that is not really true. Healthcare in Canda is alot worse than it is here. Someone I know from Canada visited a doctor’s office here in the US and was amazed by our care. It was so much faster and more efficient than the care Canadians are used to. Personal interest, the profit motive, and competition- on the part of both healthcare providers and insurance companies is always going to work better than government bureacracies.
The main disadvantage of the Canadian system, as applied to the US, would be massive unemployment among the paper-pushers at private insurance companies. But we would be spending much less for health care and likely get better outcomes.
I guess you’re one of those who wouldn’t mind.?
The main disadvantage of the Canadian system, as applied to the US, would be massive unemployment among the paper-pushers at private insurance companies.
That is not a problem, since it would be more than offset by legions of unionized paper pushers employed by the feds who would all have unfunded defined benefit pension plans.
Charlie: Seriously, we can debate the health care bill, the fairness, the cost, etc. But you do not honestly think that the government is better at managing its employees efficiently than the private sector.
And while perhaps the government has an advantage in costs through the economies of scale, you cannot honestly think that the government has any advantage in efficiency in providing services.
zahava’s dad: You are complaining about the cost. Sorry dude, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Do you think doctors will work for free if the government runs it? Or do you just think then they’ll tax Bill Gates and he’ll pay for you?
I can’t comment on the American system since I know little about it, but I can tell you that I have several children with medical problems and we have always had our needs met by the Israeli medical system. All of their surgeries have always been done at no cost to us and we have had access to the best doctors in the country. There have been times when we chose to go to a private specialist, but even then, the kupah has always covered 70% of the cost. The system is not perfect, but for most people, I think it’s quite good.
Popa,
I know that it is inconsistent with the Religion of Laissez-Faire, but it is a fact that Medicare has about one-fifth the administrative overhead of the best private health insurer in the US. Economies of scale are a major contributor, as are the lack of need for underwriting and marketing.
Cucumber,
Your claim that Canadian healthcare is worse than the United States is nor born out by objective outcomes. And had your friend visited an urban emergency room or primary care clinic she would have had a very different experience.
Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. And year after year we have this debate. its been going on for decades. Sorry to say Charles you are once again coming down on the wrong side of history. As most liberals do. I am always amazed at the persistence of liberals. Despite being proven wrong through the scope of history someone always comes along and thinks that THEY have found the right way to do it. Its always a sham. Its always bunk. Socialized anything has never and will never work. Somewhere in the loop will be a failure. It tends to be a catastrophic failure. Whether finance, medicine, or lawn mowing, its always a failure. Just look around the world and analyze with a true critical eye and you will see the failure of socialism (hello?? Greece anyone??). And in the places that it seems to work? Death , destruction, and despotism reign (Hello?? Venezuela anyone??). The US is the pinnacle of medical r&d. The brightest minds come here. Lets not kill it with this foolishness. We have a choice, Greece or us. EU? Or USA? Charlie? Or Poppa? Obama? or Reagan? I know what I am choosing.
In the USA without ObamaCare we are allowed to go to any doctor we want whenever we want and spend how much you want. Granted if you have insurance you may be limited to co-pays, referrals, etc. The bottom line is, it is YOUR choice.
Under ObamaCare you will be a ward of the govt. They will be the ones to approve or disapprove your doctor visits, procedures etc. Care WILL HAVE TO BE rationed in order to as Obama claims, “keep prices in check.” Of course the left – which are the only ones pushing for this – claim that isnt the case however that IS the case anywhere else there is socialized medicine.
Check it out, people in Canada who are able DO COME to the USA for treatment instead of waiting for treatment there. Foreigners DO COME to the USA for treatment when they have a wait in their country. People like CharlieHall (an uber left liberal blogger) will tell you thats not the case however they are either lying to you so swallowing Socialist flavored Kool-Aid without thinking things thru clearly.
I had a brother who got sick (coma etc) in the UK and I saw the shoddy healthcare they had there. The primary care doc didnt want to do certain tests because he was insistent to my mother that all my brother had was a cold and he didnt want to go to school. Had he run a simple check, he would have seen that the airway was closing!!! I am not CHV questioning HKBH’s plan but we do have to think of derech ha’teva too.
Anyway, hospitals there closed or were revamped. Now when you get sick you go to hospital 1 and if you need additional care they transport you to hospital 2. In USA terms lets say CHV something happens, you are transported to the doctors office. If you need additional care, such as surgery, scans etc., they transfer you to another hospital. THAT IS SHEER LUNACY!!
People talk about E”Y. Well E”Y has a minute amount of people we do. We have 325 MILLION people and counting!! In EY, my sister broke her finger and needed a splint. She was told to come back in the morning. HELLO!! Something is VERY WRONG with that!! If you cant rely on the hospital to have the equipment needed to do what they have to, whats the point of the hospital?!?!
The American people were told this will bring healthcare costs down saving the govt money which is a lie! Until now, we were paying for the healthcare. If we went to a doc, we paid either out of pocket or with a co-pay but the GOVT DID NOT PAY. Now, the govt will pay! So if someone had 100k worth of medical expenses in 2011 which was paid by the insurance provider, and now the govt pays for it, that means the govt takes on an additional 100K of debt for your healthcare. Where is the govt saving in that? If you didnt buy milk and now the govt tells you you have to buy milk, you ARE spending money on something that you had not done before. This is an additional expense to you.
There are other problems with the bill as well. It is unconstitutional for the govt to mandate that you buy something and you are mandated to buy health “insurance” of some sort with this bill. The left will tell you that you have to buy auto insurance but there is a fallacy in their argument. You see, you have a choice with auto insurance, in the fact that if you dont have a car, you DONT have to buy auto insurance. You dont have a choice not to breath.
We were told our premiums will go down but just about anyone will tell you their premiums have gone UP. Since this law was passed my family’s premium has gone up over 50% for less benefits!
The bill was 3000 pages long and we still dont know what was in there. The democrats in Congress didnt read the entire bill (they admitted to it!!) before shoving it down our throats. The claim that the Republicans didnt present any plans is utter nonsense. The democrats had full control of the House, the Senate, and the President. There was no listening to anything offered up by the Republicans.
The claim that poor people could not get healthcare was bull! All they had to do was walk into ANY hospital and they would be treated. We owe about 5000 dollars to hospitals for deductables and we are paying them off. We are struggling but we are doing it. They could have also gotten on Medicare if necessary. We are BH making too much money for that.
If this is not repealed or struck down altogether by the Supreme Court, we will be no different than other European countries.
<>em>I know that it is inconsistent with the Religion of Laissez-Faire, but it is a fact that Medicare has about one-fifth the administrative overhead of the best private health insurer in the US
Charlie: You insult your own intelligence by quoting such statistics and taking them at face value.
Do you really think that Medicare has 1/5th the amount of administrative overhead that the health insurers have?
Come now; if you would have said Medicare has 20% less, I would make up answers (ex. they don’t care about stopping fraud, don’t care about customer service, aren’t interested in innovation, etc.- which are all true.)
But I don’t even have to respond to this besides to tell you that it is obviously false, or misleading.
I am able to see benefits to central government control. I don’t think that if I am opposed to it, it must be all bad.
Just because you believe in Keynseian economics, and you don’t think Laissez-Faire is superior in all regards, doesn’t mean that laissez-faire is inferior in all regards. Keynes didn’t think that. There is no question that selfish interest can run an enterprise more efficiently in terms of administrative costs. To deny that makes you the flat-earther.
Charlie — I was not addressing whether government rationing of health care is a good or bad thing; I just stated the fact that it is technically accurate to say that under socialized medicine the government will be the one determining if a person receives life saving treatment for the vast majority of people. (The exception obviously being those wealthy enough to pay for whatever treatment they desire.) And it is clear that the problem with most drugs that are deemed not cost effective is not that they are not effective, but they are too expensive. I am not taking a position on whether this is right or wrong, but it is a fact. (Private insurance companies are involved in the same type of medical rationing when they determine what is covered or not covered, which is part of the complaint people have against insurance companies, but that won’t change with the government in charge.)
Mother in Israel — Do you have the basic mandatory coverage or do you pay for an upgrade to one of the premium plans? As far as I know the basic coverage does not cover 70% of the fee to a private doctor, although many of the upgrades do.
As someone who just transitioned to the Israeli system from the U.S. one, I am not so happy with the system here. B”H I did not have any serious medical issues since I came, but a lot of the routine stuff is unbelievably complicated.
For example my son was having certain eye issue and I was told that the wait period for an appointment with a pediatric ophthalmology was over 3 months! This was not to see the “top” doctor — this was to get ANY appointment.
Similarly my baby hurt his foot and we were concerned about a broken toe. My pediatrician gave me a referral to Terem and an orthopedist. I called the Kuppah for an appointment with a pediatric orthopedist and was told that the pediatric orthopedist works for the Kuppah only one day a week, which happened to be that day. They would squeeze me in if I could get the x-ray and be an the office within the next 2 hours. After zooming to Terem and B”H not waiting too long, I rushed back with my x-rays (the Terem technician will only take the x-ray, not read it), and made it to the Kuppah. I got into the doctor who told me that since I was squeezed in he is only going to look at the results, but if my son needs treatment I would have to go to the hospital ER, as he will not treat him. (BTW, here in Beit Shemesh there is no hospital, so it would mean traveling to either Yerushalayim or Tel Aviv!!) B”H my son did not need any treatment, but I never had experiences like these in the U.S.!
Additionally, my husband and son both take maintenance medications for two completely different conditions, and both of their medications were covered in the U.S. with just a nominal co-pay. Neither of their medications are available here in Israel. B”H my husband was able to switch to a medication available here that seems to be working for him, but the medication my son had to switch too is causing him many more significant side effects then the one he used to take.
And that is not even discussing the whole immunization issue, where you have to deal with a whole separate bureaucracy (the Tippat Chalav by us doesn’t even answer their phone — you have to go in person just to get an appointment!). And once the kids outgrow Tippat Chalav, well-care transitions to school nurses who service entire regions of schools. I don’t want to talk about the nightmare I am in the middle of right now with regard to my 2nd grader’s booster shots, but suffice it to say that as we have a simcha coming up in the U.S. I think I’m just going to go to my old pediatrician and pay him out of pocket to give my son his shots, as I don’t have the koach to start fighting the bureaucracy here. (He didn’t get his shots in school because they lost the records that I sent in THREE times, and found it after they were packing up the immunizations, so they decided not to bother unpacking it. . )
And don’t get me started on “histapchut layaled” and developmental delays, where the evaluation process alone can take 6 months, followed by an 8 month waiting period to begin therapy. . .
I was lucky in the U.S., as I had excellent insurance provided by my employer (I was a unionized employee working for the government 🙂 — NYC), so I am not intending to minimize the difficulties for people who don’t have coverage, etc. But good coverage in the U.S. definitely comes with significantly smoother medical care, less bureaucratic hurdles, easier access to doctors, and quicker treatment then the Kuppat Cholim system. (And I do pay to upgrade my coverage to the highest level provided by the Kuppah.)
Healthcare in Israel is different from healthcare in the U.S. That doesn’t mean it’s worse, just different.
Yes, I pay for the top-level supplement offer by my kupah. But it doesn’t cost all that much. My co-pay for doctor visits is laughable – 7 shekels per quarter for my regular doc and 26 (I think) for specialists.
My medications are also quite inexpensive.
BTW, years ago I had a different kupat cholim. My experience was not nearly as good. They aren’t all the same.
In the U.S. I was not able to get insurance at all. That’s not quite true. I could have gotten insurance through the state government, but the cost of the insurance premium plus the cost of my rent was more than I earned each month. How would I have been able to eat?
“In the U.S. I was not able to get insurance at all. That’s not quite true. I could have gotten insurance through the state government, but the cost of the insurance premium plus the cost of my rent was more than I earned each month. How would I have been able to eat?”
And this is precisely the problem. Everyone who proclaims how wonderful the US healthcare system is forgets that if you don’t have insurance, you get none of those benefits. Haifagirl was actually in better shape than many because for more than her monthly income she could have gotten insurance. People with disabilities or with pre-existing conditions would not even have that option. And the opponents of the Affordable Care Act have not suggested any alternatives.
“And it is clear that the problem with most drugs that are deemed not cost effective is not that they are not effective, but they are too expensive. “
Actually a lot of new drugs offer minimal if any benefit over existing drugs. (That is particularly true for cancer.) But in any case the US is one of the few developed countries that does not regulate in any way the price of prescription drugs. What in fact happens is that in the US, for-profit health insurers are the ones making most of the decisions for what to cover.
Edited. I will address them one by one.
“In the USA without ObamaCare we are allowed to go to any doctor we want whenever we want and spend how much you want. Granted if you have insurance you may be limited to co-pays, referrals, etc. The bottom line is, it is YOUR choice”.
It is only your choice if you have the money to pay for it. Otherwise, your (probably) for-profit health insurer decides who you can see. The exception is if you are lucky enough to have Medicare, as it does not restrict choice at all. And that is a government plan.
“Under ObamaCare you will be a ward of the govt. They will be the ones to approve or disapprove your doctor visits, procedures etc. Care WILL HAVE TO BE rationed in order to as Obama claims, “keep prices in check.” Of course the left – which are the only ones pushing for this – claim that isnt the case however that IS the case anywhere else there is socialized medicine.”
This is not just a lie, it is hypocritical. The plans available under Obamacare will be private plans, not government plans. And one of the big criticisms of the Republicans has been that Obamacare costs too much. They can’t seem to decide whether it is better to attack the President for providing too much coverage or for providing too little.
Furthermore, government care is not necessarily restricted. All my wife’s patients have New York Medicaid. Not once has Medicaid ever denied coverage for a treatment she has recdommended.
“Check it out, people in Canada who are able DO COME to the USA for treatment instead of waiting for treatment there. Foreigners DO COME to the USA for treatment when they have a wait in their country. People like CharlieHall (an uber left liberal blogger) will tell you thats not the case however they are either lying to you so swallowing Socialist flavored Kool-Aid without thinking things thru clearly.
And Americans go to Canada and Mexico for treatment.
“I had a brother who got sick (coma etc) in the UK and I saw the shoddy healthcare they had there. The primary care doc didnt want to do certain tests because he was insistent to my mother that all my brother had was a cold and he didnt want to go to school. Had he run a simple check, he would have seen that the airway was closing!!! I am not CHV questioning HKBH’s plan but we do have to think of derech ha’teva too.”
And had the doctor asked for the tests, he would have gotten them.
“Anyway, hospitals there closed or were revamped. Now when you get sick you go to hospital 1 and if you need additional care they transport you to hospital 2.”
That is actually the way things work in much of the US, too.
” In USA terms lets say CHV something happens, you are transported to the doctors office. If you need additional care, such as surgery, scans etc., they transfer you to another hospital. THAT IS SHEER LUNACY!!”
Not necessarily. Clinics and hospitals refer patients all the time. And one of the reasons health care costs in the US are so high is the over-use of higher-tier levels of care.
‘People talk about E”Y. Well E”Y has a minute amount of people we do. We have 325 MILLION people and counting!! In EY, my sister broke her finger and needed a splint. She was told to come back in the morning. HELLO!! Something is VERY WRONG with that!! If you cant rely on the hospital to have the equipment needed to do what they have to, whats the point of the hospital?!?!’
That is better than in much of the US. Go to many emergency departments with a broken finger and you will spend the night in the waiting room. They are busy dealing with people with life-threatening conditions.
And many hospitals don’t have facilities or staff to treat everything. For example, if you are shot, stabbed, burned, bitten by a venomous reptile, or seriously injured in an auto accident, you want to go to a trauma center and not an ordinary hospital. If you are threatening suicide, you need to be at a hospital with a locked psychiatric inpatient unit. Not every 100 bed community hospital can handle everything.
“The American people were told this will bring healthcare costs down saving the govt money which is a lie! Until now, we were paying for the healthcare. If we went to a doc, we paid either out of pocket or with a co-pay but the GOVT DID NOT PAY. Now, the govt will pay! So if someone had 100k worth of medical expenses in 2011 which was paid by the insurance provider, and now the govt pays for it, that means the govt takes on an additional 100K of debt for your healthcare. Where is the govt saving in that? If you didnt buy milk and now the govt tells you you have to buy milk, you ARE spending money on something that you had not done before. This is an additional expense to you.”
The plans to be made available under the law are PRIVATE plans that YOU have to pay for.
“There are other problems with the bill as well. It is unconstitutional for the govt to mandate that you buy something and you are mandated to buy health “insurance” of some sort with this bill. The left will tell you that you have to buy auto insurance but there is a fallacy in their argument. You see, you have a choice with auto insurance, in the fact that if you dont have a car, you DONT have to buy auto insurance. You dont have a choice not to breath.”
Well several courts have disagreed with you. And given that the federal government passed a mandatory health insurance purchase law in 1798, it is likely that the courts will ultimately follow a 213 year old precedent.
There is no comparison to the fact that people from all over the world, not just Canada and Mexico, come to the U.S. for medical care. Including Kings and rulers of sovereign countries coming to the U.S. for treatment from halfway around the world. This fact is incomparable to any other country bar none.
Charlie:
You forgot to respond to me. I feel left out.
But it’s ok, I’m patient. (although, not one of your patients.)
m in Israel:
Mother in Israel — Do you have the basic mandatory coverage or do you pay for an upgrade to one of the premium plans? As far as I know the basic coverage does not cover 70% of the fee to a private doctor, although many of the upgrades do.
You’re right, we have the cheaper of the 2 premium plans. When my children got their diagnoses (3 of them have a genetic condition and 1 has something completely unrelated), we met with a doctor and a social worker from the kupah. The doctor went over all the procedures, medication, and equipment he expected our children to need in the future, and the SW told us which plan would be best for us. BH we have been happy with our decision.
Regarding your other complaints, I can hear how frustrating they must have been for you. I have to say that my experience has not been similar. We have had splints and casts put on even when we came in without an appointment. We have gotten ophthalmology appointments fairly quickly, and when we had an eye “emergency”, we were able to get in on the same day. We have access to all of our children’s medications and pay very little for them. Tipat Chalav here is a pleasure to deal with. They answer their phone, return messages, and actually run on time so I can be in and out in half an hour.
I do agree with you though on hitpatchut haleyed issues. We’ve had to wait months for an evaluation and then even longer for a treatment slot. Once the doctors and therapists got to know our family, things became easier though. I do think something has to change in their system because kids who need therapy should not have to wait months to begin.
I have heard that with regard to health coverage, each region of Israel is almost like an entirely different country. The system is really different when you move from one place to another. It seems like the area we live in is pretty different from RBS, and it’s also quite likely that we’re not even on the same kupah.
“Socialized anything has never and will never work. “
Another lie. Some counterexamples:
The development of the M1 rifle. (US)
The development of the atomic bomb. (US)
The electric utilities in France. (Their nuclear power plants are much more efficient than those in the US and French consumers have historically paid a lot less for electricity than we pay Con Ed.)
The bullet trains in France.
There are many others.
“The claim that poor people could not get healthcare was bull! All they had to do was walk into ANY hospital and they would be treated.”
This is also a lie. If you walk into any hospital that has an emergency department (some don’t) you get emergency care, for which you will get a large bill. But you are only guaranteed to get emergency care, which means that you get stabilized to the point that they don’t think you will die THAT DAY. You get no help with the chronic conditions that are the major causes of death in America.
“Do you really think that Medicare has 1/5th the amount of administrative overhead that the health insurers have?”
Yes. It is around 2%. The best private insurer is about 10%, and one of the reasons the health insurance industry was so strongly opposed to Obamacare was that it limits administrative overhead to 15%.
“Do you really think that Medicare has 1/5th the amount of administrative overhead that the health insurers have?”
Yes. It is around 2%. The best private insurer is about 10%
Now I’m convinced. Sign me up.
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