Bernie only blows smoke and has nothing behind it. His idea is literally for a general strike on insurance so they'll buckle. That is the SINGLE. WORST. IDEA. EVER.
Did you not realize that some of the people who will be thrown out of work are actually "poor people"? Or did you think that the billing and the coding and the processing of claims are all done by highly-paid insurance company executives?
These are real people - every doctor's practice has billers and claims processors, and every insurance company employs legions of processors - and they're paid minimum wage or a little above for doing what they do. While it's good that single payer will streamline the whole process, there are a lot of people who work within the current system who will be unemployed by a "burn it all to the ground" approach, and unless your plan takes their employment issues into account, it can't possibly be seriously considered as an actual plan.
But yeah, I guess caring about those people means that I'm a neo-liberal shill according to Bros. Whatever.
Please explain to me why a for profit Medicare alternative will be necessary if a single payer plan that offers complete, comprehensive, affordable care is implemented? Medicare Advantage plans are currently available because of the shortcomings of Medicare which include 20% copays, inadequate prescription drug coverage, and ruinous hospital charges. Any single payer plan must, necessarily, correct these short comings. The overhead costs of for profit insurance and the denial of services based on a profit motive have no legitimate place in the health care industry,
No plan, Medicare or otherwise, currently pays for all services - because all services are not necessary for all people. CMMs has a fiduciary responsibility not to allow frivolous spending (I realize this might seem disingenuous based on certain pricing structures, but that goes away if M4A allows for collective purchasing and leverages that power to drive costs down).
If, however, you have a familial predilection toward complex medical issues, buying supplemental insurance can expedite treatment, the authorization of newer treatments, or just plain old choice in treatment.
Some people might also want to buy supplemental coverage for orthodontia, or LASIK, or other non-basic services.
In grad school, we tried super hard to build a model without supplemental insurance. It’s just not what Americans want (or most European countries, for that matter).
The four-foot high stack of opposition research the GOP had on him would have prevented that.
Why do you think that every single right-wing media outlet was cheering him on? You cannot possibly be naive enough to think they did so because they agreed with him.
They did so because they calculated that he would have been a piece of cake to beat.
I don't entirely understand the point of a public option and private companies offering the same thing, but if it buys some support it might be worth it. It is more or less how things run in Germany, like Dok says, and I always figured that's the sort of system we'd end up with rather than the NHS or even the Canadian system. I'd like to see something that says the private companies offering Medicare plans must be not-for-profit entities, but maybe that's something like price controls that will become obvious down the line as part of making this work.
I have personal experience with Germany's health care system, having dislocated my shoulder while there. I got excellent and fairly rapid care. Because I wasn't in their system, obvs., I paid cash. 200 Euros for the whole emergency room visit, I don't remember how much for PT afterward. BCBS of TX paid about 75% of it back to me.
5 stars. Would injure myself again, and recommend my friends get injured there, too!
I don't mind paying higher taxes when I switch over to Medicare, but here is the most important rub and politicians and pundits PLEASE note. Currently I am under my wife's plan. Her employer pays around $20k on her behalf for the plan. I have the same employer and they pay nothing on my behalf and I don't get compensated for declining insurance (someone else in my position could supposedly have a family and so I am saving my employer a lot of money). At any rate, suppose we transition. Will my employer suddenly give my wife a $20k raise? I understand that the current premiums they pay is tax free but if she got a $20k raise and then our overall taxes went way up we could easily come out ahead IF she got the $20k raise. But can we count on employers passing on these benefits in the form of pay? I have some serious doubts here.
Why do I doubt? Because no one talks about insurance benefits as being just another form of pay. We need to start training the public to see insurance benefits as part of our wage structure. This is important because it will show 1) how much insurance really costs (A LOT!) and 2) shows people how switching to a MF4 plan would save you money (and release you from those stupid networks).
Bernie only blows smoke and has nothing behind it. His idea is literally for a general strike on insurance so they'll buckle. That is the SINGLE. WORST. IDEA. EVER.
The Brits also have private healthcare. *GASP*
Did you not realize that some of the people who will be thrown out of work are actually "poor people"? Or did you think that the billing and the coding and the processing of claims are all done by highly-paid insurance company executives?
These are real people - every doctor's practice has billers and claims processors, and every insurance company employs legions of processors - and they're paid minimum wage or a little above for doing what they do. While it's good that single payer will streamline the whole process, there are a lot of people who work within the current system who will be unemployed by a "burn it all to the ground" approach, and unless your plan takes their employment issues into account, it can't possibly be seriously considered as an actual plan.
But yeah, I guess caring about those people means that I'm a neo-liberal shill according to Bros. Whatever.
thank you
thank you.
Please explain to me why a for profit Medicare alternative will be necessary if a single payer plan that offers complete, comprehensive, affordable care is implemented? Medicare Advantage plans are currently available because of the shortcomings of Medicare which include 20% copays, inadequate prescription drug coverage, and ruinous hospital charges. Any single payer plan must, necessarily, correct these short comings. The overhead costs of for profit insurance and the denial of services based on a profit motive have no legitimate place in the health care industry,
No plan, Medicare or otherwise, currently pays for all services - because all services are not necessary for all people. CMMs has a fiduciary responsibility not to allow frivolous spending (I realize this might seem disingenuous based on certain pricing structures, but that goes away if M4A allows for collective purchasing and leverages that power to drive costs down).
If, however, you have a familial predilection toward complex medical issues, buying supplemental insurance can expedite treatment, the authorization of newer treatments, or just plain old choice in treatment.
Some people might also want to buy supplemental coverage for orthodontia, or LASIK, or other non-basic services.
In grad school, we tried super hard to build a model without supplemental insurance. It’s just not what Americans want (or most European countries, for that matter).
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.
LOL You can't possibly believe that.
The four-foot high stack of opposition research the GOP had on him would have prevented that.
Why do you think that every single right-wing media outlet was cheering him on? You cannot possibly be naive enough to think they did so because they agreed with him.
They did so because they calculated that he would have been a piece of cake to beat.
I give people I encounter on Wonkette the benefit of the doubt.
Thank you for removing that doubt.
Troll elsewhere.
I don't entirely understand the point of a public option and private companies offering the same thing, but if it buys some support it might be worth it. It is more or less how things run in Germany, like Dok says, and I always figured that's the sort of system we'd end up with rather than the NHS or even the Canadian system. I'd like to see something that says the private companies offering Medicare plans must be not-for-profit entities, but maybe that's something like price controls that will become obvious down the line as part of making this work.
And then the murders began.
I have personal experience with Germany's health care system, having dislocated my shoulder while there. I got excellent and fairly rapid care. Because I wasn't in their system, obvs., I paid cash. 200 Euros for the whole emergency room visit, I don't remember how much for PT afterward. BCBS of TX paid about 75% of it back to me.
5 stars. Would injure myself again, and recommend my friends get injured there, too!
I lived there for a while when I was a student. I never needed anything major, but getting full coverage for 40 euro a month was pretty sweet.
Private insurance companies vie for customers in Germany, but they are not allowed to make a profit on them.
I don't mind paying higher taxes when I switch over to Medicare, but here is the most important rub and politicians and pundits PLEASE note. Currently I am under my wife's plan. Her employer pays around $20k on her behalf for the plan. I have the same employer and they pay nothing on my behalf and I don't get compensated for declining insurance (someone else in my position could supposedly have a family and so I am saving my employer a lot of money). At any rate, suppose we transition. Will my employer suddenly give my wife a $20k raise? I understand that the current premiums they pay is tax free but if she got a $20k raise and then our overall taxes went way up we could easily come out ahead IF she got the $20k raise. But can we count on employers passing on these benefits in the form of pay? I have some serious doubts here.
Why do I doubt? Because no one talks about insurance benefits as being just another form of pay. We need to start training the public to see insurance benefits as part of our wage structure. This is important because it will show 1) how much insurance really costs (A LOT!) and 2) shows people how switching to a MF4 plan would save you money (and release you from those stupid networks).