California Senate passes universal health care bill • Hacker News Board

Re: California Senate passes universal health care bill

#11

Post by dreamthtwasrome » Fri, Jun 02, 2017, 8:25 AM UTC

This won't pass the house, the Property class won't let it. (Their two departments are the Democrats and Republicans.)

If it were possible, in a hypothetical sense:

Raise corporate taxes, they're much too low to be sustainable.

Care would need to be more efficient than Cuba or UK NHS in order to be cost-effective, this means preventative medicine and QALY will be front-and-center. The question will be how to pay for major operations and expensive, ongoing conditions without ending-up with Greece-style finances and IMF bailout austerity conditions. Even with cutting costs to rest of the world prices (1/4 of current prices), it would still be hundreds of billions per year. It's not impossible, but it would be an up-hill climb all the way and might not be very good with compromises, loopholes and back-room deals that will likely infest it.

Maybe there's enough rich corporations and wealthy people with taxes to raid, but their lobbyists on both sides of the aisle won't allow anything more than crumbs and getting back to sucking the blood money out of poor people.

Re: California Senate passes universal health care bill

#12

Post by dreamthtwasrome » Fri, Jun 02, 2017, 8:31 AM UTC

digitalzombie wrote: post #5

ams6110 wrote: post #3

The bill does not include detailed language about how the state would come up with hundreds of billions of dollars to pay for health care coverage for nearly 40 million residents. Perhaps they expect to go bankrupt and let the rest of the country bail them out?

You mean the red states that California have been subsidizing to help us out?

California is indeed a profit-center in the United $tates.

Re: California Senate passes universal health care bill

#13

Post by adiabatty » Fri, Jun 02, 2017, 9:44 AM UTC

dreamthtwasrome wrote: post #11

This won't pass the house, the Property class won't let it. (Their two departments are the Democrats and Republicans.) If it were possible, in a hypothetical sense: Raise corporate taxes, they're much too low to be sustainable. Care would need to be more efficient than Cuba or UK NHS in order to be cost-effective, this means preventative medicine and QALY will be front-and-center. The question will be how to pay for…

Last I checked both houses were over 2/3 Democrats. Is this not the case now?

Re: California Senate passes universal health care bill

#14

Post by toomuchtodo » Fri, Jun 02, 2017, 2:09 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #10

toomuchtodo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instead of everyone paying insurance premiums, they pay through taxes. And no need to argue: almost every other first world country provides universal healthcare funded by taxes. It's both financially possible and prudent. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_unive...

> And no need to argue: almost every other first world country provides universal healthcare funded by taxes. Almost every other developed country provides universal healthcare, but there's a mix of systems and all-public systems are not overwhelmingly dominant. Mandated-purchase with public safety net programs are not uncommon.

I think we're in agreement? There is a basic level of care in those UHC countries, but then private insurance/services/etc for above and beyond.

Re: California Senate passes universal health care bill

#15

Post by dragonwriter » Fri, Jun 02, 2017, 2:14 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #14

dragonwriter wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And no need to argue: almost every other first world country provides universal healthcare funded by taxes. Almost every other developed country provides universal healthcare, but there's a mix of systems and all-public systems are not overwhelmingly dominant. Mandated-purchase with public safety net programs are not uncommon.

I think we're in agreement? There is a basic level of care in those UHC countries, but then private insurance/services/etc for above and beyond.

In some the model is very similar in outline (but superior in execution) to the US ACA model: everyone is required to buy insurance with certain minimum standards, with subsidies and/or a public fallback program for the indigent. In some there is a universal public baseline program that everyone is on that you may be able to supplement on top of, as you describe, but that's not at all generally true.

Re: California Senate passes universal health care bill

#16

Post by ZeroGravitas » Fri, Jun 02, 2017, 10:24 PM UTC

Why is the level of conversation on this topic so low?

There's two top level comments here that effectively say: "Healthcare costs money! You didn't think of that did you, commie!".

And this is on a forum full of intelligent techies who are interested in business. I shudder to think what the opinion of the average Republican voter is. Some fever dream involving death panels no doubt.