Quoting from:
http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion-boards/politics-and-religion-39/re-there-needs-to-be-cuts-455093
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"I have also posted about one of AOC's early (first term) statements on "single payer" health insurance for all, something Bernie has been campaigning for for years. Someone asked AOC, 'But how will we pay for it?' AOC replied, 'What do you mean? We just pay for it!' I explained that statement in old posts which are returning: "Discussion Board Error! The message you have requested is either invalid or is no longer active."
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"To recap: "The United States spends more on health care than any other country. Annual health expenditures stood at over 4.4 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022 ..." I explained AOC's statement as follows, across ALL health plans and all health services (this looks better as a pie chart of Venn diagram):
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"Inputs: Private insurance premiums (paid by employers and employees), co-pays, gov "inputs" (Medicare/Medicaid), out of pocket expenditures ... add them all up and you get, let's simplify, $5 trillion IN. (Those or similar inputs will remain the same: 'You just pay for it the way you have always paid for it.')
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"Outputs: Med procedures, medicines, doctors - nurses salaries, office workers salaries, real estate, property and equipment maintenance ... everything DIRECTLY related to patient care. In addition, THE PRIVATE INSURERS take, let's estimate, 20% off the top: 15% to show as profits to their shareholders and 5% to pay top management big salaries and bonuses. That's $4T for patient health-care and $1T for management wealth-care.
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"(A private company, Steward Health Care, bought up several hospitals in MA. Steward management enriched themselves and their shareholders and bankrupted the hospitals which went into bankruptcy in 2024. It is a national trend:
http://www.wbur.org/news/2024/05/07/steward-bankruptcy-hospitals-massachusetts
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/15-healthcare-bankruptcies-in-2024.html )
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""How do you pay for "it"?" "It" being healthcare. You use the same or similar funding streams: insurance premiums, co-pays, out of pocket, ... and state and fed funding programs. The same or up to the same $5 T comes in. Cut out the self-enriching private management (and increasingly mis-management) groups, keep the service providers and support staff (now to be paid by a single payer), and you can cut premiums and inputs back to $4 T or you can spend some of the $5 T on improving the health care system (new and improved facilities, etc.) or expanding it.
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"That's MY simplified explanation of "you just pay for it."
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"Premiums, co-pays, taxes, withholding ... go IN ---> [$5 Trillion In]
[$5 Trillion Out] ---> MDs, RNs, support staff, hospitals, patient care, meds, ... go OUT, with [$1 T left over].
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"The now-missing piece that is eliminated is the [$1 Trillion OUT] ---> millionaire managers' salaries and bonuses."
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You can still have SUPPLEMENTAL PRIVATE INSURANCE for those who want more choices or coverages. E.g., private hospital room instead of shared room or ward. Or ...
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http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion-boards/ter-general-board-12/not-all-health-plans-are-created-equal-885919
"Not all health plans are created equal
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"The Senator was visiting one of the top hospitals, and during her tour of the floors she passed a room where a male patient was masturbating. "Oh my God", said the Senator, "that's disgraceful, what is the meaning of this?" The doctor replied, "That man has a very serious condition where the testicles rapidly fill with semen. If he doesn't do that 5 times a day, they'll explode, and he would die instantly." "Oh, I am sorry", said the Senator. On the next floor they passed a room where a young nurse was giving a patient oral sex. "Oh my God", said the Senator, "What's happening in there?" The Doctor replied, "Same problem, better supplemental health plan." "
Posted By: willywonka4u
Re: We have the worst of both worlds.
The best thing about single payer is that it maximizes the risk pool and lowers costs. The worst thing about it is medical resources are finite which results in limited delivery of medical services. This often means wait times.
The best thing about a true free market system is market competition would drive prices down. The worst thing about it is you always have to pay for it and there may be times where that’s not feasible.
We have a system that’s a mix of both of these systems, except we have none of the advantages and all the downsides. It’s not a free market system, but rather carefully crafted monopolies that drives up costs. And you have long wait times. It’s terrible.
I think emergency care should just be single payer. And we should have a true free market system for additional care. Taxpayers shouldn’t be paying for someone’s boob job. But we should lift the burden off of someone having a stroke.