And if the merger isn't blocked, what guarantee does Aetna make that they won't drop out of the exchanges anyway?
Anecdotally, any course of action depending on "synergies" being realized will not happen.
Aetna CEO Threatened Obamacare Pullout If Feds Opposed Humana Merger
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Re: Aetna CEO Threatened Obamacare Pullout If Feds Opposed Humana Merger
#72Url changed from http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/08/17/49020234..., which points to this. Strange world when HuffPo has the more original source and the more substantive piece than NPR...
Re: Aetna CEO Threatened Obamacare Pullout If Feds Opposed Humana Merger
#73Can anyone succinctly explain the benefits of having a market for private health insurance companies, rather than a single provider of health insurance (government, aka "public option")? Can a capitalist case be made for their existence? Does the lack of a large private insurance market in countries with government-provided health insurance cause lots of inefficiencies and waste?
In theory? As I understand it ... A market allows for innovators to find ways to deliver better service for less money and thus offer a more competitive product and gain market share. This competition forces all players to improve, or be forced from the market. A publicly owned and operated business has no incentive to improve its operational efficiency and little to no incentive to respond to complaints in service.…
IMHO if VA, Medicare and federal employee coverage were a gov't backed NPO insurance company, that could provide a baseline and competition. Of course, that would have to also cover the administration and congress. That would act as both a baseline and incentive to compete, with that corporation open to state, company and individual plans.
As to pharmaceutical costs, there's two things that need to happen First is that extension patent approvals must be significantly reduced (requiring moving more of the patent fees up to the application stage to cover more review/appeal costs). The second would be statutory licensing for all patents on medication after say 5 years, allowing for generics at a fixed patent licensing fee after the patent is 5 years old.
Those would be things to improve competition.
Re: Aetna CEO Threatened Obamacare Pullout If Feds Opposed Humana Merger
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Equality for all is much better than improvement for the 1% and misery for everyone else. Read your Wilkinson and Pickett. Aside from perhaps the environment, equality is the political and economic issue that will shape the 21st century.
Equality for all is much better than improvement for the 1% and misery for everyone else. Don't be dense. You know there are happy mediums. * Read your Wilkinson and Pickett. Aside from perhaps the environment, equality is the political and economic issue that will shape the 21st century.* I've read Pickett. Equality is horrifying. Eastern Europe is the result. The handicapper general is terrifying. It's the end to a…
Eastern Europe didn't have equality. It had less equality than Western Europe and the US - the party elite basically carved up their countries as fiefdoms.
To blame equality for problems caused by systems that never implemented anything like equality is quite bizarre.
Re: Aetna CEO Threatened Obamacare Pullout If Feds Opposed Humana Merger
#75Can anyone succinctly explain the benefits of having a market for private health insurance companies, rather than a single provider of health insurance (government, aka "public option")? Can a capitalist case be made for their existence? Does the lack of a large private insurance market in countries with government-provided health insurance cause lots of inefficiencies and waste?
The purpose of government is not to require the most efficient option. Government isn't capable of it anyway. Government is force - nothing more. The purpose of government is to protect our rights. "Single payer" (a euphemism for socialized medicine) by definition violates rights by forcing people to do things against their will. For example, in Canada (until recently) people were prohibited from using private health…
For example, in Canada (until recently)
Until recently. This means that all people can obtain health care regardless of their ability to pay, and that the system is flexible enough to continue to experiment with the ideal implementation.
Are public schools better than private schools?
Public schools are exactly 100% better than private schools for students who can't afford to attend private schools.
Is the US postal system better than FedEx?
They are if you want to get a letter delivered anywhere in the world cheaply.
You have made a lot of good arguments for socializing care here.
Re: Aetna CEO Threatened Obamacare Pullout If Feds Opposed Humana Merger
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
I live in Canada so I get "free" healthcare as well. Norway's system of delivering food isn't a full socialist/single-payer model, so you wouldn't get breadlines there.
So your earlier comment is entirely irrelevant then, seeing as we're not talking about bread delivery, but delivery of healthcare, where - irrespective of whether we'd agree on the feasibility of efficient delivery of "singlepayer bread" - it has been conclusively proven by example that efficient delivery in a single payer model is possible. In fact, not only is it possible, but almost every country in the world that…
Ask yourself what those studies measure and if you can honestly consider those measures fair measures of quality, quantity and equity in providing care.
It usually boils down to $5,000 for surgery X in one country, $8,000 for same surgery in another. What an analysis like this always skips is the care that wasn't provided that should have been provided.
Re: Aetna CEO Threatened Obamacare Pullout If Feds Opposed Humana Merger
#77How long would a government run tech company survive in the valley? Now tell me again why you want them centrally planning your healthcare?
Re: Aetna CEO Threatened Obamacare Pullout If Feds Opposed Humana Merger
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Equality for all is much better than improvement for the 1% and misery for everyone else. Don't be dense. You know there are happy mediums. * Read your Wilkinson and Pickett. Aside from perhaps the environment, equality is the political and economic issue that will shape the 21st century.* I've read Pickett. Equality is horrifying. Eastern Europe is the result. The handicapper general is terrifying. It's the end to a…
Eastern Europe didn't have equality. It had less equality than Western Europe and the US - the party elite basically carved up their countries as fiefdoms. To blame equality for problems caused by systems that never implemented anything like equality is quite bizarre.
It wasn't real socialism canard.
…the story about the two fellows in the Soviet Union who were walking down the street and one of them says: Have we really achieved full communism? Is this it? Is this now full communism?
The other one said: Oh no, things are gonna get a lot worse.
Re: Aetna CEO Threatened Obamacare Pullout If Feds Opposed Humana Merger
#79Can anyone succinctly explain the benefits of having a market for private health insurance companies, rather than a single provider of health insurance (government, aka "public option")? Can a capitalist case be made for their existence? Does the lack of a large private insurance market in countries with government-provided health insurance cause lots of inefficiencies and waste?
The healthcare system in countries like France, Canada, Germany is much more efficient and provides better healthcare to most of it's citizens than the US healthcare system pre and post obamacare. https://www.oecd.org/eco/growth/46508904.pdf http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/press-releases/...
Yeah I'm not buying this and never have. You're going to need to cite some kind of scientific statistics or stats or studies.
When people get sick they come to the US for treatment if they can. You don't see world leaders and those with money going to Canada or Europe for treatment. Not when it's dire. The US is hella expensive for many reasons one is that we have the most bleeding edge medical technology.
Re: Aetna CEO Threatened Obamacare Pullout If Feds Opposed Humana Merger
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
> For the citizen, none. Actually, that's false. I can assure you that having lived in Canada and having moved to the US because of health care, having options beyond "deal with it" when not getting any sort of care or service is wonderful. Single-payer is great if you are actually getting the care you need. But when it fails, you are left with little to no alternative. What's worse is that because of the perception…
The US system is great if you have money. When some asshole sucker punches you and breaks your jaw, I'd rather be in Canada where getting it fixed is affordable.
> The US system is great if you have money.
Which has no role in the care my children receive.
> When some asshole sucker punches you and breaks your jaw, I'd rather be in Canada where getting it fixed is affordable.
Within the context of my comment, the US provided $0 and -2 week while Canada offered $30k+. and a 1.5 year wait.