Live data from Hacker News

NY Senate Bill S5474 proposing a universal single payer health plan for NYers

nysenate.gov

351–360 of 569 posts

Re: NY Senate Bill S5474 proposing a universal single payer health plan for NYers

#351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're renting, your landlord is paying property tax and passing it on to you.

By that logic, no one pays taxes except consumers.

One of many counter examples: Corporations holding investments with capital gains aren't sourcing tax payments from consumers.

Pass-through taxes exist though, yes.

Re: NY Senate Bill S5474 proposing a universal single payer health plan for NYers

#352
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who gets "good" care here? Senators and millionaires definitely do. But, most people don't get good care, many people are missing essential care (dental), and everyone has to wait. Often months. We in the US pay more per capita for worse care than most other developed nations (Canada/UK/Nordic countries). Name your country where the care is worse than the US please and let us know how much they pay for it per capita…

You ever been to a Canadian hospital?

The quality of Canadian healthcare depends greatly on who is in the room having the discussion about it. If it's just my Canadian relatives discussing it, it's the worst healthcare system on Earth and too much of their taxes goes to funding something to provides garbage care. Once someone from the US enters the conversation, the quality of the Canadian healthcare system skyrockets. Things get really interesting when my cousins from Ontario who have lived in Florida for most of their adult lives get in the conversation since they're willing to call out both sides on their BS.

Re: NY Senate Bill S5474 proposing a universal single payer health plan for NYers

#353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have made no statements about how things should be. I have lots of opinions about how things should be, which I don't share on HN. I was making statements about how things actually are , since no discussion about how to make the world we want is likely to be meaningful or useful if there is not a shared view of what is first.

And what you focus on brings about thoughts of a zero sum game which I called out. You can safely assume I don’t agree with what you find most pertinent. I think a country which lets some get rich off of other’s cancer is an abhorrent, indefensible, system.

I'm not seeing that out of his comment. I see him saying we spend a ton of money, and there's the implication that we could be spending that money better/differently. That doesn't imply a zero-sum game. It does imply that the money available for health care is not unlimited. That's pretty much a fact, though.

Re: NY Senate Bill S5474 proposing a universal single payer health plan for NYers

#354
post #285

I’m an MD who trained in NYC. I have also had emergency surgery in the NHS at one of their most prestigious hospitals in London and so I feel like I’ve seen the system a little bit from the inside. It was far cheaper for me than it would have been as a Brit in the USA, but the standard of care was lower. They didn’t have some technical and staffing resources late in the afternoon that would be a baseline in any of th…

As a not doctor I don't understand this:

> It will likely strain these systems even further, as reimbursements from Medicaid/Medicaid are insufficient to run large health systems which depend on higher rates from private insurers

Time ran an article a few years ago about hospital billing and whatnot. One of the things that they pointed out was that Medicare reimbursement rates were based on the actual cost to provide the service. If the problem is that Medicare doesn't pay enough extra to subsidize indigent care then having medicare-for-all would address that as it would reduce the number of uninsured.

> In NYC even more physicians and group practices will try to go to alternate models such as cash-only. Try being on Medicaid or Medicare and finding an outpatient psychiatrist in NYC now as it is. This will extend to more PCPs, chronic disease specialists, etc.

As opposed to what's already happening? Keep in mind that the southeast part of San Francisco already has relatively poor access to health care. A few years ago Sutter decided to revamp Saint Luke's hospital in Bernal Heights. St. Luke's used to be a community hospital where you'd go for primary and emergency care. Sutter changed that all up and stocked the offices almost exclusively with specialists (because that's where the money is).

> The US healthcare system, if you have private insurance, is the best in the world already in terms of level of service and access to rapid specialty and high-end care.

I'm sorry, what? Back when I had Blue Cross/Shield I had to book an ultrasound something like three months in advance. In San Francisco. At the time I was seeing a fee-for-service GP. If I'd wanted to switch to an in-network GP the wait at UCSF was like nine months. Finding a GP that takes both new patients and insurance was not easy – in fact I didn't as my GP was amazing.

Re: NY Senate Bill S5474 proposing a universal single payer health plan for NYers

#355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have made no statements about how things should be. I have lots of opinions about how things should be, which I don't share on HN. I was making statements about how things actually are , since no discussion about how to make the world we want is likely to be meaningful or useful if there is not a shared view of what is first.

And what you focus on brings about thoughts of a zero sum game which I called out. You can safely assume I don’t agree with what you find most pertinent. I think a country which lets some get rich off of other’s cancer is an abhorrent, indefensible, system.

How do you incentivize smart people to go into cancer treatment instead of other careers? If they can't get rich treating cancer, talent will choose other fields where they can get rich. The market allocates funding to that which people find important. Health care is extremely important, so it gets a lot money thrown at it.

Re: NY Senate Bill S5474 proposing a universal single payer health plan for NYers

#356
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Massachusetts may try it as well: https://masscare.org/ Massachusetts has had 98% health care coverage for more than 15 years. (The only countries in the world with more than that are those, such as the UK, in which no membership card is needed for receiving care.)

Health care coverage with a deductible and copays is not at all similar to taxpayer funded healthcare such as that in the UK.

That has nothing to do with my point, which is that Massachusetts has 98% coverage.

Neither the UK's monolithic NHS that combines single-payer insurance and (more or less) 100% free on delivery with no membership card, nor Canada's single-payer insurance with no legal private alternative, is the norm internationally. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands all have Obamacare-like systems with dozens of competing private insurance plans with premiums. 30% copay is the norm in France's three separate government insurance plans. Australia has single-payer insurance but people are heavily incentivized to move to private plans. Etc., etc.

Re: NY Senate Bill S5474 proposing a universal single payer health plan for NYers

#357
post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is that? My parents lived in North County and paid 13k+ a year on a $350k house. Their current place in Tampa is about 400k and the taxes are less than half of what they were in NY. Maybe Florida is a special case?

I'm basing this off of apartments in NYC. I often see ~$600k co-cops with $800 monthly co op fees (of which half is maintenance half is taxes). That seems low to me compared with similarly priced homes elsewhere.

NYC has has a city tax on your income. If you are living in the tristate area youre paying one way or the other :)

Re: NY Senate Bill S5474 proposing a universal single payer health plan for NYers

#358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to believe employees wouldn't be able to opt out of their own employer-based insurance. Why is that?

From the summary of the bill: > Private insurance that duplicates benefits offered under New York Health could not be offered to New York residents. --- My interpretation of that is that private insurance (which includes employer-based insurance) would be banned.

That's an incorrect interpretation. Private insurance would be restricted to cover things not already covered by the public insurance.

Re: NY Senate Bill S5474 proposing a universal single payer health plan for NYers

#359
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You ever been to a Canadian hospital?

I have, as have members of my family, and have received excellent care for some fairly serious conditions. I think the Canadian system is under funded, and I'm sure there are plenty of true horror stories, but they always get highlighted by people who want to tear down/prevent a public healcare system so I feel I have to bring up that my family have received good and timely care. When I really needed healthcare I was…

It really seems to be one of those things where depending on who you are, you are better off under one system or the other. I have an aunt who was handicap from birth. Her care in Canada from birth to her death in her 70s was far better than what she would have received in the US under Medicaid, which is what her disability likely would have restricted her to as her ability to work and access quality health insurance would have been limited. On the other hand, there's no shortage of Canadians who end up coming over to the US to get timely care that the Canadian system treats as low priority even though it has a large quality of life impact and even in some cases, a life expectancy impact. There was a case recently of a Canadian YouTuber living in Japan who ended up in Florida for treatment because both the Japanese and Canadian systems failed her. The comparisons between systems aren't anywhere near as clear as many would have us believe.

Re: NY Senate Bill S5474 proposing a universal single payer health plan for NYers

#360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very broad strokes, doctors in the US are overpaid and conservatives legislated Medicare can't negotiate drug prices. Lots of room to drive down costs. Spending is high because of a dysfunctional system driven by profit instead of care. https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/03/12/702500408/are-... https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2010.... https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/10/25/opinion/let-medi…

Agree with the part about doctors being overpaid in the states. My wife is a 3rd year resident of a fairly well-known hospital system in one of the biggest metro areas of the US. We always feel lucky that she is a doctor because we know that she will make $250K+ (more like $300K/year if she choose a hospital in a rural area) as an internal medicine doctor (hospitalist/attending). My wife might go for oncology fellows…

Medicine is great because once the loans are paid down doctors have plenty of job options to get the right fit.

That being said the system of training is a ridiculous and discriminatory waste of human potential. Eight years of study with giant amount of vacation is just abhorrent. 18 year-olds who want to be doctors need 48 weeks of school per year like a military medic or any normal adult. What a joke college is in the US. And the residencies are flat out nonsensical illegal discrimination. If a woman wants to have a baby every year while she can, there are many types of medicine where there is zero reason to require 24 hour residency shifts, yet they basically coerce it anyway. Similar for a disabled trainee or just anyone whose training need not include such things. Heck, even a trainee with a bit of sleep apnea or a sleep disorder should not be forced to destroy their cardiovascular and mental health unless shift work is a necessary component of training for the respective discipline.

Post reply on HN