Universal health care

https://www.wsj.com/articles/lying-prices-keep-america-hooked-on-spending-11546908833

Almost all other developed nations provide free college and universal health care for their citizens. Why couldn’t it work in the US? Discuss!

I’d really rather we didn’t, but let’s see how fast this thread can devolve.

if you cant afford to live, should you really be alive?

free college imo will increase your earnings, while free healthcare will just subsidize your life!

From the Koch Brothers to AOC, we’ve all agreed that universal health-care will reduce total healthcare spending. The only problem is the GOP can’t cut taxes AND have universal health-care, you gotta choose one. I’m looking forward to the Dems running on this in 2020.

The question should be where taxes are spent.

Most European countries have income tax regimes broadly similar to the US at most earnings levels and can fund universal healthcare.

Most European countries don’t spend more on military than the entire EU. Unfortunately I don’t think anyone will be able to change that.

Also most European countries have different tax regimes than the U.S.

yep higher taxes in europe. us has pretty low taxes in comparison.

If you can afford top notch health care in the US, you’re in a great place. Nowhere in the world can you get as good health care as the top of the line care in the states. From the other side, if you’ve gone through the school of hard knocks and haven’t gotten your shit together, the US health care system is pretty cut-throat.

When it comes to free secondary education, I see the US system as a great hindrance to its future outlook. We’re way past the period when you could go straight from high school to some manufacturing plant and have a great career. The lost potential of not educating the entire population is enormous.

Even though the tax hit of providing free secondary education in the US would be huge, I think in the long run its benefits would far outweigh its disadvantages.

I used to be against it but I’m for the single-payer, Medicare for all, universal health care whatever system now. It is 2019, people shouldn’t be dying of preventable diseases or because they cannot afford medication. I would like to see certain requirements of people though, for instance the requirement that people get annual checkups / vaccinations or get hit with some sort of tax penalty. Smokers, fatties, and anti-vaxers will piss you off a bit more when you know you are fitting the bill for their healthcare.

Free community college.

Medicare for all over 50.

Private markets (Obamacare) for everyone under 50. One pool that private insurers can fight over to provide coverage. Everyone either buys insurance or is provided with a plan. Those who choose not to get insurance but can afford it pay a tax/fine to offset the cost.

haha yea im actually a big fan of medicare for all too. but i dont think its right to borrow to pay for it. we must first have a balanced budget before we fund unprofitable ideas. raise the taxes on the rich now rather than borrow from them. now that i think of it, a government is like a sanctified criminal.

Input cost for universal healthcare in the US probably makes it economically unappealing to many voters. If we can cut the cost of health services by 50%, the case for universal coverage becomes much stronger. Unfortunately, healthcare providers are heavily invested in the current system, and it’s hard to force them into a low cost ecosystem. When we make some resource available to many people economically, we usually end up harming a minority of people with heavy interests.

Pretty profound that: the part probably isn’t greater than the whole.

If you can afford top-notch medical care, you’re doing well in many country. “Nowhere in the world can you get as good health care as the top of the line care in the states.” This might have been true at one time, but not anymore. Top medical programs in the US are on par with top programs elsewhere, but are not necessarily better.

Lack of universal healthcare combined with the outrageous cost of US healthcare is surely a drag on the dynamism of the economy. I’ve seen many people pass up interesting entrepreneurial opps because they have families who need healthcare. If you have a pre-existing condition or a kid with some issue, you were basically uninsurable until ACA was passed. I can’t see how fixing that is a bad thing, or why republicans have chosen to demonize ACA.