Who do you call to set up your Medicare coverage when you turn 65? Medicare is one of the biggest reasons we spend so much. I think spending would have gone up regardless. Not at the levels it has with Medicare though. Medical Spending as a percent of GDP in the US since 1800… Two hundred years of health and medical care Notice when the steep increase happened? Right after Medicare.
We are by far the most unhealthy nation in the industrialized world. It is amazing our numbers are so good. If only we could get people to make the changes in their lifestyle…
The graph isn't high definition, so a little hard to tell, but it looks like costs take off at 1960, and Medicare didn't exist until 1965. How did Medicare make medical costs increase 5 years before it existed?
No. The side effects (esp the severe ones) are usually rare and almost never worse than the underlying disease (other than perhaps things that are elective or cosmetic in nature). They do list those risk factors as a CYA, and sometimes it’s funny. But what is really hilarious is the very concept of an advert for something like medicine for lung cancer or HIV as if it’s coke vs. Pepsi or Budweiser vs. Michelob. It’s ludicrous. No clue who those ads are aimed at or what the point is, but an ad should never be driving anyone’s course of treatment on… pretty much anything really (maybe very minor things like allergies or non-prescription drugs). The goal should always be best practices. For medicines the “best course”, esp with drug choices and dosing could almost be decided by AI or probabilistic math based on certain variables and results of blood draws/lab tests, actually we are nearer that then you might think.
That's easy! They're geared towards the WebMD "Scary Marys" that read the symptoms of herpa-syphil-aids or any other disease online and are then convinced they have it. Some of the "conditions" that appear to be created are quite funny as well.
Who's "we?" The reason I spend so much on healthcare is that I have to pay private insurance premiums and out of pocket expenses along with premiums for my Medicare when I hit 65. We could just be paying one premium for the same coverage with less out of pocket that everyone gets by implementing Medicare for All, and it would be a great deal for like 80-90% of the population who isnt super-rich.
I actually tend to agree. I also recall than when Michelle Obama tried to promote healthy diets for Americans and more physical activity especially for school children she was incessantly ridiculed by the right-wing media and right-wing politicians. Trump Targets Michelle Obama’s School Nutrition Guidelines on Her Birthday (Published 2020) Right-wing media attack Michelle Obama for fighting childhood obesity Conservatives dig into Michelle Obama's anti-obesity campaign
Part of the problem there is that the Medicare reimbursements for physicians are worse than lousy. A lot of them operate at a loss and many outright no longer accept Medicare because of the previously mentioned "costs of doing business". Need to remove a lot of the malpractice culture/fear before it's a viable solution.
Seems like basically making doctors government employees would remove most of that "fear" of malpractice
Medicare isn't the main reason for our high costs. The main reason is our healthcare industry being comprised of insurance companies that are For Profit. The second major reason is malpractice, malpractice insurance and our litigious country
You're talking about nationalizing the industry? That's a bridge too far. You'd have to mandate something to limit the high costs of education at that point as well as a full salary structure. The big medical schools would likely go their own way at that point which would directly impact the quality of physician that would stick around for the system. You'd have an exodus of higher end physicians that would take a massive paycut.
Single payor isn't really 'nationalization.' It basically just means the government is the primary insurer. If anything is being 'nationalized' its the health insurance business, but I'd really considered it simply being eliminated than taken over. But the reason healthcare has malpractice fears or suits is that it is a private market! That's the remedy when there are disputes in a privatized market system. Its a feature not a bug of the US system.
As I said…I think costs would have gone up regardless. Advancements in medicine would dictate that. Medicare though was a terrible tool that has been used to make things worse.
Don’t worry…your kids and grandkids will get to cover you when you get to Medicare. Like mine. Just like we have been our parents who did not pay enough premiums to cover the benefits offered. That reality is just a small piece of why Medicare has been so damaging in the grand scheme.
The argument people give for capitalism though is that its only expensive for early adopters, and that eventually plasma TVs only cost $200. I thought capitalism was supposed to make new tech less expensive over time?
And people were wrong to do so. Also…the main reason we spend so much more than other countries is the fact we are far more unhealthy. Which dictates a much greater need and therefore cost.
But then the provider could still get sued. So they are perhaps open to lawsuit AND have revenue pressures from single payer system/cost caps. Probably not a great move as far as increasing level of care. I’d say any type of single payer system (even if not outright “nationalization”, which I’m not in favor of) should have some degree of tort reform. Malpractice victims should still always be able to seek some compensation, but perhaps how that insurance works could also be looked at. Of course the GOP just wants the tort reform side of the equation. Which would do literally nothing for patients, except limit what they could do even in devastating cases of malpractice.
Stop mandating we cover every procedure known to man (shoot I have to pay for gender transition coverage for goodness sakes). And people will change their behavior. Instead we force those who make good decisions to subsidize those that do not. I am not a proponent of a straight free market. But we need to push policies that promote a more free market approach and competition while having a safety net for chronic illnesses that are out of the control of people.
