Very interesting (changing opinions on health care)

[Penguin]

I found this on one of my regular blog readings a couple days ago. I thought it was VERY interesting. In no small part because I had predicted this change in opinion a decade or so ago. I wondered how long it would take but was sure it would happen. Too many people getting hurt or bankrupted by the current system for it to last very long.

https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/412552-majority-of-republicans-say-the-support-medicare-for-all-poll

The particularly cynical blogger posted that it was only a matter of time before someone on the right or left grabbed this issue with both hands and gained control of the levers of power for a generation or two. For the Republicans he said it would happen as soon as they figured out how to package "Medicare For All" as supporting the free market. :o

I'm telling you the sands are shifting beneath the feet of the parties. They'll look nothing at all like their current form in a decade or two.

Will

[Chicken Dinner]

I'm telling you the sands are shifting beneath the feet of the parties. They'll look nothing at all like their current form in a decade or two.

Will

From your lips to God’s ears. I am 100% done with the current two party system. Bring on the revolution.

(Thanks for the link. I always find the stuff you post very thought provoking and will read it when I have a little more time.)



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[Penguin]

Why thank you Hank. What a big compliment that is.

It is fascinating to watch honestly. After spending my entire adult life wondering how the two parties could go on insisting that these huge problem areas in our nation were working perfectly and beyond debate I am watching them start to eye them and start grappling with how to approach them.

Will

[BarryBobPosthole]

That is a shocking poll result. At least to me. I wouldn’t have though Medicare for All would poll that high even in the Democratic party.

I think the conundrum is what Medicare for all would do to the insurance and health care industries and how disruptive that could be to our economy.

And while health care costs might be high on the radar of voters, we currently lack leadership that has even the basic communications skills and/or ethics to even hold a constructive debate on the matter. We’ve had death panels, six month waits for MRIs, and millions put out of work as forecasted results of just getting Obamacare. Just imagine the horror of what Medicare for All would bring.

Its likely a pipe dream in my lifetime. As you can tell, I don’t have confidence in much of anybody these days.

BKB

[johnboy]

Socialized medicine - be careful what you ask for cause you might get it.

A Canadian perspective: Direct cost to the patient - low to zero. Wait time for simple procedures - forever, it seems. My next door neighbour is 75 or so and has been told by his doctor that he needs both hips replaced. Wait time - 2 years for the first operation. In the meantime, he is in constant pain and can hardly move. Sleeps sitting up in a chair. Bad.

Wait time for a simple ultrasound procedure - 3 to 4 months. An MRI - 1 year. Ca Scan - 6 months. You get the picture.

Course, we can now legally smoke a buncha pot to tide us over until we can actually get something done if we need surgery. Good?

[Chicken Dinner]

That’s bullshit it what it is.


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[BarryBobPosthole]

I hear that and it has to be done better or it isn’t worth it to do. Keep this in mind though: We have more people on medicare right now, about 58 million, than the entire population of Canada, around 37 million. And people currently on medicare insruance don’t have anywhere close to those wait times.

Its still an issue because adding that many new users night be devastating to the system. I think it needs to be done in stages. Lower the eligibility age to 60, then in five years 55, and so on. Something like that. Scale as you go and it lessens the shock to other parts of the process too.

BKb

[Chicken Dinner]

That’s bullshit it what it is.


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Not bullshit in that I don’t believe what you’re saying. Bullshit for people to have tout up with that kind of nonsense.


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[johnboy]

Wait times for medical procedures are the number one issue/problem with our system and there doesn't seem to be any fix on the horizon. Something is broken and no politician seems to know how to fix it.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Our biggest problem is that we have too many sick people in our health care insurance system. If we take the sicker people out, in theory private insurance becomes affordable. Which is why I think gradually lowering the eligibility age to say, 50 for medicare works better than medicare for all. It insures more people when they need it most, it improves private insurance margins, and it lowers the cost for the healthier ages. Winner winner.

BKb

[johnboy]

Chicken dinner?

[BarryBobPosthole]

Not quite. I’m not sure how the tax paying millenials will feel about supporting a bunch more old folks.
BkB

[Chicken Dinner]

When I talk to folks about to retire, Medicare eligibility seems to be the #1 factor that impacts timing.


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[LJ3]

Not quite. I’m not sure how the tax paying millenials will feel about supporting a bunch more old folks.
BkB

They do not look upon old white guys favorably these days. You can bet your ass that's not going to improve. Can't say I really blame them. I like your phased implementation approach, though.

[Penguin]

An interesting article that was called to my attention this morning on an aggregate site I visit:

https://www.breitbart.com/midterm-election/2018/11/13/pinkerton-midterm-voters-send-a-message-on-health-care-put-americans-first/

This one is starting to pick up speed. My advice for those who keep saying that there are market forces that ~could~ be brought to bear in order to address some of these health care issues: You better move fast because I don't think mouthing this as an excuse to do nothing is going to work any longer.

This is from Breitbart for god's sake! :)

I read a long time back something that really has stuck with me and proven to be true if you look at it. The argument the fellow made was that there is rarely a time when a majority of democrats and republicans disagreed on the basic structure of the political economy. He said that what happens is that when our current policies stop working eventually one party adopts remedies that prove to be so popular that the other party adopts them as a means of self defense. It happened after FDR and it happened after Reagan.

I think it is happening again and I think health care, free trade, and immigration are front and center. Lots of people getting hurt by our current policies regarding these and a lot of room for improvement.

Will