Health care

[Scoots]

I hope this crises causes us to actually take actions to prepare for the next virus rather than ignore it like we did last time.

We need to support US pharmaceutical manufacturing. We need to re-stock emergency supplies. We need to have reserves of likely needed equipment.

[Scoots]

Was talking to a friend last week and heard something that didn't fit with what I've read in the media ... he's from the UK and when he was in Canada he got sick and was charged $30k Canadian for his 3 days in the hospital.

So, the UK has universal health care (which he says is great but the wait time for some tests and procedures is obscene), and Canada has universal health care, but it doesn't work for non-Canadian citizens.

If the US gets universal health care will it exclude non-citizens?

[GasMan]

We don’t need to support pharmaceutical manufacturing, they’re doing just fine. We need to better incentivize them to make the medicines we need and not just ones that bring the highest return on investment (even better would be to make those two things the same). This would require more work on the health insurance than anything. I also read an article that had interesting ideas on rewarding targeted drug innovation with money from the government. I’ll see if I can find it.

[GasMan]

Was talking to a friend last week and heard something that didn't fit with what I've read in the media ... he's from the UK and when he was in Canada he got sick and was charged $30k Canadian for his 3 days in the hospital.

So, the UK has universal health care (which he says is great but the wait time for some tests and procedures is obscene), and Canada has universal health care, but it doesn't work for non-Canadian citizens.

If the US gets universal health care will it exclude non-citizens?

The U.K. has universal health care. The actual health care is provided by government employed workers in government owned hospitals.

Canada has universal health insurance. I believe the hospitals and workers are independent of the government. The government does strictly regulate how health care is administered and provides most of the cost for its citizens.

[Sick Of It All]

First step don’t elect a man that does not believe in science or the country’s intelligence services.

[dbroncsinmo]

Well, at least this one got to 4 replies before being derailed.

[spliff(TONE)]

okay

[Scoots]

First step don’t elect a man that does not believe in science or the country’s intelligence services.

Trump only cares about Trump, there is no room for anything else in there.

That said, I don't think that really has anything to do with it.

[Crovash]

Well, at least this one got to 4 replies before being derailed.

Three replies.



Just saying.

[Crovash]

Even our president — who, by his own reckoning, knows more about everything than just about everybody — asked who knew that health care could be so complicated (I’m guessing health care costs and issues are probably not front and center on the personal stage for multi-millionaires).

Like most things in America, it seems the way it goes is something akin to pre-college education — basics accessible for all (and in a manner of speaking, free, though one still pays through taxes, et al) and those with greater resources can and will buy better care.

[debo]

Well, at least this one got to 4 replies before being derailed.

Insightful contribution.

We need a complete healthcare overhaul. Our system is terrible.

[Scoots]

Insightful contribution.

We need a complete healthcare overhaul. Our system is terrible.

I can fix it. But nobody in power will like it

[SfgiantsJD3]

We don’t need to support pharmaceutical manufacturing, they’re doing just fine. We need to better incentivize them to make the medicines we need and not just ones that bring the highest return on investment (even better would be to make those two things the same). This would require more work on the health insurance than anything. I also read an article that had interesting ideas on rewarding targeted drug innovation with money from the government. I’ll see if I can find it.

The affordable care act required lots of drug manufacturers to be recertified, which incentivized lots of them to drop certain generics because of costs and others to offshore manufacturing in new certifiable plants that are not in the US. Part of driving healthcare costs down was to lower drug costs. They went up, less supply of some generics and the ACA allowed the higher prices.

There is a generic I have been taking for over 50 years. In about 2005 I could get a 1 year supply for $38. It was $12 in 2007 for a 90 day supply, by 2010 it was $24, by 2014 it was $180 and "market priced". I am now on Medicare Advantage and its back to $12. Bring highly automated robotic plants back to the US.

[Zmaster52]

We don’t need to support pharmaceutical manufacturing, they’re doing just fine. We need to better incentivize them to make the medicines we need and not just ones that bring the highest return on investment (even better would be to make those two things the same). This would require more work on the health insurance than anything. I also read an article that had interesting ideas on rewarding targeted drug innovation with money from the government. I’ll see if I can find it.

A very simplistic idea that I’d like to add is capping certain medicines at certain prices. Companies should be allowed to make profit but they shouldn’t be allowed to charge $700 for something that only costs $4 to make (for instance)


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[Crovash]

One thing that would greatly reduce administrative costs — which are 35% of total health care costs in the US — would be to standardize records (patient records, payment records, et al).