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Universal health coverage could save $1T and 114k lives a year: study

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881–890 of 1001 posts

Re: Universal health coverage could save $1T and 114k lives a year: study

#881

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It should be illegal to charge different prices for the same thing to different customers.

That's how virtually all industries work though. The computer you are typing on right now probably costs a different amount depending on which retailer you bought it from, even though it's the same manufacturer.

The fact that it's already common doesn't mean it shouldn't be illegal.

And I'm talking more specifically about a single entity selling to multiple customers. If two different retailers want to charge two different prices of course that's fine.

Re: Universal health coverage could save $1T and 114k lives a year: study

#882

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It should be illegal to charge different prices for the same thing to different customers.

It's how they negotiate? otherwise you get take it or leave it deals with insurers.

Hospitals shouldn't have to negotiate with insurers. It should be illegal for an insurer to not pay for a necessary procedure at the hospital's standard rate.

Re: Universal health coverage could save $1T and 114k lives a year: study

#883

Switzerland has the system closest to the US in my experience, but with universal coverage. As individual, you buy basic insurance costing roughly $500/month with a $2500 yearly deductible (LAMal/KVG). Applicants must be accepted even with pre-existing conditions. Post-deductible, you pay 10% co-insurance capped at roughly $800/year (no medical bankruptcy). Insurers operate basic plans as non-profit. They make their…

So basically as long as someone is alive in Switzerland they need to pay an insurance company $500/mo?

[deleted]

Re: Universal health coverage could save $1T and 114k lives a year: study

#884

Switzerland has the system closest to the US in my experience, but with universal coverage. As individual, you buy basic insurance costing roughly $500/month with a $2500 yearly deductible (LAMal/KVG). Applicants must be accepted even with pre-existing conditions. Post-deductible, you pay 10% co-insurance capped at roughly $800/year (no medical bankruptcy). Insurers operate basic plans as non-profit. They make their…

So basically as long as someone is alive in Switzerland they need to pay an insurance company $500/mo?

Yup. Premiums change depending on the deductible you choose[1] and your age.

[1]: If you have the CHF2500/year deductible, premiums are cheaper but you have to pay that amount out of picket before the insurance company reimburses your expenses

Re: Universal health coverage could save $1T and 114k lives a year: study

#885
post #724

There are a lot of people making a lot of money on the inefficiencies of the US system. They won’t give up their revenue streams without a fight, and they are filthy rich on the backs of sick people. You better believe they will play dirty.

Are those still "inefficiencies" or is it just the usual market-greed?

Re: Universal health coverage could save $1T and 114k lives a year: study

#886

Switzerland has the system closest to the US in my experience, but with universal coverage. As individual, you buy basic insurance costing roughly $500/month with a $2500 yearly deductible (LAMal/KVG). Applicants must be accepted even with pre-existing conditions. Post-deductible, you pay 10% co-insurance capped at roughly $800/year (no medical bankruptcy). Insurers operate basic plans as non-profit. They make their…

Where are you getting the 150 to visit a Dr. in the US? The copay is usually much, much lower than that.

I thought you were going to say out of pocket costs are much much higher than that.

I’ll be lucky if I get a specialist for under 500 until I meet deductible of 3k+ for a family of 3. One emergency room visit and we reach it in one or two days.

Re: Universal health coverage could save $1T and 114k lives a year: study

#887

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans are already suffering under the broken healthcare system. Overall suffering would decrease as a result.

Yes, but it's a different group of Americans, and the ones who are currently thriving in this broken system will fight tooth and nail to preserve their way of life.

They're killing people, and they're driving others into bankruptcy which is also killing them.

Re: Universal health coverage could save $1T and 114k lives a year: study

#888

There aren't enough Physicians, they don't make much and they all seem to be working 12 hour days but being paid a salary that would equate to an 8 hour day. Doctors see downsides of a universal coverage are mostly about loss of autonomy and increased demand because when care becomes free demand rises along with pressure to expand access without extra staff.

There are not enough physicians because we have limited the number of physicians. This was done, in part, by limiting the number of residency positions. [1] https://petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2022/03/15/ama-scope-of-p...

Most other countries don't even have a residency system. After graduation you simply apply for and work as a junior dr. for some number of years. No federal funding of a 'residency' position necessary.

Re: Universal health coverage could save $1T and 114k lives a year: study

#889

Switzerland has the system closest to the US in my experience, but with universal coverage. As individual, you buy basic insurance costing roughly $500/month with a $2500 yearly deductible (LAMal/KVG). Applicants must be accepted even with pre-existing conditions. Post-deductible, you pay 10% co-insurance capped at roughly $800/year (no medical bankruptcy). Insurers operate basic plans as non-profit. They make their…

For families, do children also cost $500/mo?

Re: Universal health coverage could save $1T and 114k lives a year: study

#890
post #839
post #724

There are a lot of people making a lot of money on the inefficiencies of the US system. They won’t give up their revenue streams without a fight, and they are filthy rich on the backs of sick people. You better believe they will play dirty.

"Healthcare costs have been rising faster than inflation, and a staggering share of that spending is consumed by administrative middlemen, soaring drug prices, and emergency care for conditions that should have been treated earlier and for less" ----- It's a n-tuple-whammy. Co-pays and deductibles discourage early diagnoses by preventing most people from visiting doctors for issues that aren't serious. The painful pr…

You’re blaming it on lack preventative care, but the truth is that there is very little preventative care that is shown to be effective at anything more than burning money. The few things that are effective (e.g. vaccines) are largely inexpensive, and don’t require “insurance” as we know it.

Most of the things that are predictable and lead to long-term bad outcomes are behavioral (i.e. diet and exercise; smoking cessation; quitting drugs), and therefore both largely unaffected by medical care, and heavily confounded with socioeconomic status. Your doctor cannot make you eat better and exercise and quit smoking.

In the developed world, if you don’t die at birth or succumb to diseases of lifestyle (diabetes, heart disease, addiction) or accidents, you basically then die of cancer. The lifestyle diseases cannot be prevented by a doctor, and we have essentially no ability to prevent cancer. It’s all just acute treatment.

North Americans in particular hate to hear this, because they have an almost religious faith in doctors based on decades of bad TV. Honestly, though, doctors are pretty impotent when it comes to prevention of illness, and it is ironically this desire for treatment that is helping to balloon costs.

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