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

ysph.yale.edu

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

#891

Post by rswail »

root_axis wrote: post #849
jasonhong wrote: post #745

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw Jim Clark (of SGI and Netscape fame) talk one time about his new healthcare startup (Healtheon). He said something insightful that captures a lot of why it's hard to get things done in general: one person's inefficiency is someone else's bottom line.

And someone else's bottom line is also the wages of friends and neighbors. Last I heard healthcare is like the only employment sector that's seeing real growth right now.

Actual healthcare delivery is a growing field because boomers are getting old and dying and advances in health care mean that people that would otherwise die (eg people with cancers) are now receiving treatments that keep them alive.

Note that this is a Good Thing.

The issue with US (and privatized) healthcare delivery is that there is an incentive (by insurers) to deny treatment, as well as an incentive for healthcare suppliers (hospitals, doctors) to over-deliver treatment, as well as incentives to use more expensive solutions.

Demand in healthcare is inelastic, no one is ever "too healthy".

Supply is always insufficient, so there needs to be a mechanism to resolve that.

In the US, that mechanism is money, or the cost of insurance etc to provide a restriction on demand.

In universal healthcare, that mechanism is a combination of subsidizing medications based on results and waiting lists for limited supplies, prioritized by need (eg surgeries).

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

#892

Post by limagnolia »

acjohnson55 wrote: post #889
Jimega36 wrote: post #854

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?

Based on what I found, you pay a lower rate for children, but you pay for each child, they don't do a fixed rate for the whole family.

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

#893

Post by limagnolia »

testing22321 wrote: post #756
trollbridge wrote: post #731

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In America, anyone who earns $20k a year with with a 2 year old is going to get free medical care, too. I have several kids and my medical care is free up until we make about $55,000 per year. If we had no jobs, same thing. A close relative of mine (who is single) also had cancer and had 100% of it paid for. Transportation costs are also paid for, although we never needed overnight accommodation so far. My prior expe…

Why are 27 million Americans without healthcare, are why is medical bankruptcy so common? A massive percentage of the population don’t have and/or can’t afford healthcare. By definition, that is not a good system.

1)People who choose not to buy insurance because we don't force them to. 2) Adults in the remaining states that chose not to extend medicare who don't earn enough to qualify for ACA subsidies. 3) Adults who qualify for subsidies but still can't afford relativly expensive ACA plans. 4) Others? Not sure if that number includes noncitizens who don't qualify for assistance?

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

#894

Post by charcircuit »

hibikir wrote: post #827
goodmythical wrote: post #811

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The whole private insurance system is a scam at every level. All for profit insurance must by definition bring in more than it pays out. From cars to homes to health to pets. If instead of paying all your premiums, you'd be far more likely to be able to afford the services that the insurers are supposedly paying for. Like, yeah, there's a chance you need a new engine, and a small chance that all of your monthly car…

On car insurance, you have a competitive market with actuaries trying to identify actual risks, and that, with their prices, modify bad behavior and purchases of cars that are expensive to repair. So all in all, you can end up with very narrow margins, and end up ahead only on the float between receiving premiums and paying out. Health insurance, especially how it works in the US, with no public system williyto cover…

>fail to insure risky people

Why can't they just charge higher rates to more risky people. If you are a risky driver you pay more, and if you have a risky body you should also pay more.

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

#895

Post by reverius42 »

Pooge wrote: post #884
HeavenFox wrote: post #875

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Obama tried this and America lost its mind.

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

#896

Post by ziofill »

ajross wrote: post #806
ziofill wrote: post #798

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, overwhelmingly more people support a single payer healthcare system. The issue is that the people in Washington won’t make it a “votable” decision.

> The issue is that the people in Washington won’t make it a “votable” decision. Sorry, that's ridiculous. Universal Health Care policies are an almost 100% partisan issue. I can literally count on one hand the number of federal lawmakers who cross party lines here. The real problem is people like you refusing to vote for the people with the policy you want, as often as not as part of a bothsidesist stance designed t…

I already have universal healthcare here in Canada. I just feel sorry for people living in the US who could have it too if it wasn’t for stupid political shenanigans and ideological stubbornness. Health should be a right, not a commodity sold by private corporations to those who can afford it.

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

#897

Post by carabiner »

throw387322 wrote: post #711
carabiner wrote: post #694

But how can we support israel? /s

The Jews are obviously to blame for the lack of universal health care. The USA spends the equivalent of about $10 per citizen per year on Israel. Medicaid spends about $10,000 per recipient per year. But antisemite math has its own rules.

Literally everything in the federal budget costs $10 or 10 cents per us citizen. Do you know calculus, or arithmetic? By this reasoning we cannot cancel anything.

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

#898

Post by grahar64 »

solaarphunk wrote: post #19

What about quality of care tradeoffs? In Canada, for example, you are forced to use the government system, and if it doesn't deem you important enough, there is no private option.

In New Zealand we have private insurance and universal health care. Insurance kind of fills the gaps and usually has faster turn around time, like 1-day vs 1-month for an MRI. But like insulin is free for everyone, so nobody is going broke while dying here rationing it.

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

#899

Post by alberto-m »

acjohnson55 wrote: post #889
Jimega36 wrote: post #854

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?

Much less, the average monthly cost is about 123 CHF (less than 150$). Source: https://www.bag.admin.ch/de/newnsb/d2okh_kUK_OFhmMDfpyiy

Same in Germany: private kids' insurance costs a fraction of the one for adults. Apparently it's very unlikely that they require expensive healthcare.

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

#900

Post by dm3 »

Jimega36 wrote: post #854

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…

Monthly payment depends on Kanton as well - in the German part you can still get basic insurance for 250 USD/month.
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