Originally posted by @tom-wolseyMedicare doesn't currently cover everything, now does it?
Define healthcare. Where do you draw the line between necessary and unnecessary.
And before you flippantly answer with "all healthcare is necessary," keep in mind that the government WILL draw the line somewhere. People with the fewest QALYs go to the back of the line.
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Originally posted by @philokaliaCorrect on the first point, hopelessly naive on the second. All that money doesn't go to us, it goes straight into the pockets of CEOs and shareholders.
As it stands, I believe that Medicare is routinely ripped off, along with the American consumer, and this largely enables the cheaper prices abroad..
Originally posted by @kazetnagorraWhat bothers me is medicare pays 80% of medical bills. There are supplemental plans that cover the next 20% but the cost is way more than medicare itself. Like we pay I think, 150 a month or so for medicare which comes out of SS, so 300 a month for me and wife.
Medicare doesn't currently cover everything, now does it?
But to pay for the next 20% it is 178 a month and that rises every year, it started out at 125 5 years ago, so what's up with that? Is the bottom line those insurers are just making a killing or is that last 20% somehow more expensive than the previous 80%? I would think, all things being equal, if we pay 150 a month for medicare, why wouldn't the next 20 % cost more than 30? To be forced to pay 150+ sounds like it costs 5X as much for just that last 20 % which sounds like a ripoff..
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Originally posted by @wolfe630
I'm curious.
How many industrialized nations in the world have gone bankrupt because they've offered their citizens free universal health care?
No country offers free health care. We pay for it through higher taxes. You should think of "free health care" as really just "health insurance premiums paid for via higher taxes".
