#American heathcare

[mistprints]

Interesting thought: society was made to protect everyone. Yet with Medicare for all, people always say that it isn’t their problem to deal with it and I guess I see where they’re coming from even if I don’t sgrrr. But imagine- you live in a little village. You guys had a bear problem going on and called a town meeting. Everyone was asked to pitch in a bit of their income to purchase bear repellent that was very effective and that if needed, anyone could use it at any time. But some of your neighbors don’t want to pitch in. They say that they wouldn’t buy bear repellent until they needed it, but wouldn’t just pitch in the extra money to ensure everyone could potentially have it available if they needed. And since not enough people participated, the town decided that everyone would be on their own to buy their own repellent, which costs more than if people collectively pitched in.

Say someone needed it desperately, but they couldn’t afford it on their own. And their neighbors shamed them for not being able to pay for it themselves, called it mooching, even- it’s pretty cut-throat.

But like a tax, everyone paying towards it lowers the cost and has a net benefit for everyone. The collective. It’s how we get things like social security or the fire department or schools. Free Public services like the library. Why can’t something as important as medicine be the same here? In a country that can more than afford it?

[gingerswagfreckles]

It's also a little bit funny that other people are calling the guy who shot a healthcare CEO with bullets that said "deny defend depose" and was carrying a manifesto about how corporate America is evil a "Nikki Haley Republican" or part of the "center right." I guess based on the fact that he went to an expensive private school was messing around in Hawaii pretending to develop a video game as work until recently? Like. This guy left a goodreads review about how the Unibomber was an "extreme political revolutionary." While also traveling around the world on the money his parents made off of real estate and owning a chain of senior rehabilitation facilities.

I think a lot of you are really uncomfortable with how common champagne socialism is and frankly I think a lot of this is projection. This guy is very obviously someone who considers themselves a leftist revolutionary, and yet everyone is kind of re-framing him as a "Nikki Haley Republican" because they're uncomfortable with acknowledging that far leftists are often very privileged and hypocritical people. I've been talking about this for a long time, but a lot of the left (at least on the internet) is quite in denial about the fact that a lot of their beliefs aren't widely shared by the working class. That often, the loudest voices in the movement are those belonging to the wealthy, who are at the end of the day cosplaying and are more interested in acting out heroic fantasies than improving life for the working class.

[t4t-pathogen]

⚠️TRANS PEOPLE WITH CALIFORNIAN HEALTHCARE: YOUR SURGERIES ARE FREE⚠️

This official page from the California Department of Insurance states "health insurance policies are prohibited from arbitrarily excluding coverage for gender affirmation services including (but not limited to) hormone therapy, mental health services and surgical services."

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!

[usernamesarehard1]

[sweetmesquite]

seeing the coverage from overseas is uh. jarring.

i've gotten so used to Z E R O information coming out before trial. most of the time people aren't even named it's just "a xx-year-old man/woman was remanded into custody regarding ___" and not at all like what i've seen of this.

and here's us cops spilling everything to the media. "oh, we found all this stuff on him!" and "yeah, the bullets match!" "here's the dude's name and full personal history and a billion cell phone photos from jail!"

like. what the fuck.

i thought the whole point was trial by jury, not trial by media? the media is publicly dissecting the dude's history and it's honestly kinda horrifying?

and i don't believe anything the cops say. time and again it's been shown that they plant evidence and fabricate shit, so i'll hold off any conclusions until after the trial. it's his manifesto that he absolutely wrote and was still carrying on his person? neat. prove it. it's definitely the same gun and silencer? neat. prove it.

until it's proven, he's still just a person of interest. and i'm still not convinced he's the individual who pulled the trigger

oh so you’re telling me the guy had a 3 page handwritten explanation of his motives and mindset and a gun and silencer that matches the description despite it being a week since the guy was shot? hmmmm interesting

[priory-of-stars]

Rant in the tags!

[centrally-unplanned]

As someone who is highly judgmental of the US healthcare system it might be a bit of a hot take that I don't think net spending in the US on healthcare is really that inflated. You can definitely lower it, don't get me wrong, but probably by no more than 20%, you won't get it down to European levels. Heathcare is a "Baumol Good", as you get richer you spend more and more of your income on it. Primarily because health is the most valuable thing to most people, and additionally because it is nearly impossible to evaluate the actual benefits of your purchase and so as need & capacity to buy increases the boundaries of acceptability expand. The biggest driver of healthcare spending in the US is not some rapacious system extracting wealth from a captive population (though, you know, that does also happen). Instead it is an overly subsidized system encouraging high levels of healthcare consumption by a population happy to induldge.

Other systems lower costs in many ways, but one of the biggest is through stricter rationing of care. That is something that tbh can be very wise, so much health spending is wasteful. But the US just isn't going to do that? No one wants it! Any time you actually try to control costs by rationing access the revolt is total. Americans prefer the current system precisely because it provides higher levels of services to the majority of people, and they can afford those services (partially because we subsidize their consumption so heavily via mandatory-private and public health plans). Since you won't realistically put that genie back in the bottle, reforms in the US are going to be about supply-side costs. And you can definitely squeeze a lot out of that. But you won't get Americans to like do less back surgeries, that isn't on anyone's agenda.

[szaryherbatnik]

Szarempire moments

Thank u anon again for the kind words im not posting that in fact im keeping 3 important anon notes in my inbox because these words are so important to me but yay today was a day of joy!!!! I bought wicked the book because im slowly obsessing over wizard of oz and also i looked pretty today and did an amazing presentation on the american heathcare system and the assasination so yay also my kitty sat on my lap today when i was watchibg the yuletide oneshot what joy!!!

[xxtha-blog]

An open letter from American, Canadian, and UK heathcare workers describing the unfathomable conditions within the Gaza strip's medical centers during Israel's on-going genocide.

[undeadentropy]

We've always known these cunts were evil. The whole world loves to act like we're so stupid for 'choosing' this. Much easier to make jokes about american healthcare if you didn't have to hold your adoptive mother's hand as her life slipped away in agony, all to make a ceo 0.0001% richer. This is what poverty looks like in America. We have all the houses, all the food, all the entertainment, all the technology, ALL THE HEALTHCARE we need. And none of it is for us.

We who live in poverty and filth suffer and die in the corner, and you'll never hear about it because no news reporter would ever run the story. It's not newsworthy. It's just normal life and death in this hellhole. Our suffering lines the pockets of those privilaged enough to sit out world changing elections or even vote for fascists directly. I could walk down this broken, rundown hovel of a block, knock on each door, ask for heathcare stories, and collect a dozen more just like it in under an hour. It's so common that people talk about it was the weather.

I want this whole damn government to burn as much as anyone. The united states as a whole did this to itself. But when it comes time to put the homes of the rich to the torch and tear down this empire, please remember that the skin of the servant cast burns just as easily, and the flames don't discriminate.

The moment you let yourself think you're better than everyone from any country by virtue of where you were born, you've become the same as the worst american you can think of. This isnt hyperbole. Thats exactly the very heart of why so many americans support ravaging other countries to begin with (and they can burn with the rich for it, this post isnt about them). Thats what the propaganda about american exceptionalism is all about. Thats how this whole thing works. We as a species have to do better, and we're running out of time.

[yourreddancer]

Resistance HQ Bulletin 21, Weekend Edition Ron Filipkowski Dec 9

∙

… Trump said he will fire FBI Director Chris Wray because “when I was shot in the ear he said, ‘oh, maybe it was shrapnel.’” Wray still has 3 years left on his 10 year term.

… Former Trump NSA John Bolton says “it will be interesting to see when the rebels capture Damascus” in Syria what their government’s files show about Tulsi Gabbard and other Americans being compromised by Russia. Well, now they have. Can’t wait.

… Former dictator Bashar Assad is now in Moscow, where he will likely remain for the rest of his life. Easier for Tulsi’s travel schedule to have most of her friends in the same city.

… While attending a ceremony to reopen the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Trump weirdly attempted to do his signature hand-jerk arm-wrestle handshake with President Macron that he enjoys doing with our allies to try to symbolize his dominance over them. This time he took it to an absurd extreme that made him look petty and idiotic. Macon repeatedly tried to free his hand from Trump’s tiny pink paw.

… Meanwhile, Elon Musk was also in Paris at the ceremony as he continues to shadow Trump. Bolton: “It’s almost like Elon Musk has become Vice President.” Poor JD.

… NY Post headline: “Trump Dominates Macron During Tense Handshake.” That was really their headline this morning.

… CNN analyst Scott Jennings reacted to the handshake: “You can already see the attitude change of the American posture and the posture of the rest of the world.” It is a party that feeds off substance-free, empty symbolic gestures as policy because that’s all their empty-headed leader has to offer. It’s why they thought pretending to work at a McDonalds for 15 minutes shows Trump is a man of the people.

… I get it, enough people continue to buy the con to make it worth it to them to look like clowns to the rest of the world. As long as MAGA keeps showing up to vote and sending them a chunk of their social security checks they don’t care. … President Zelensky also attended the Notre Dame ceremony in his customary military-style dress since his country is currently at war and under occupation. Roger Stone: “What a disrespectful slob! He couldn’t even wear a suit?”

… Russian state media then picked up on Stone’s comment, and posted a photoshopped pic of Zelensky in the same outfit as the United Heathcare CEO assassin on their RT account on Elon Musk’s X, demonstrating again how Russian propaganda coordinates with MAGA, and is amplified with Musk’s money.

… Trump said today he does not intend to try and replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell. In all non-economic posts, he has appointed radical right-wing chaos agents who want to tear down institutions. But when it comes to Wall Street, his government of 14 billionaires is full establishment with every appointment that deals directly with the economy. This government of gangsters will tear apart the social fabric of the country, but they fully intend to get rich while doing it.

… A court of appeals has upheld the Sandy Hook parents’ $965 million defamation judgment against Alex Jones.

… Charlie Kirk claimed that Justin Trudeau’s government just banned assault weapons and certain types of other firearms because they know they are going to lose in the next election: “Trudeau thinks that guns can be used to protect Ukraine’s freedom. So, what does it say that he wants those guns gone from Canada?” It says that Ukraine has been invaded by Russia and Canada doesn’t want their citizens killing each other. I’m not sure why that’s so hard for MAGA to understand.

… Joe Biden: “Since I took office, the economy has created more than 16 million jobs, with jobs created every single month.” Although Biden notes that these were created on his watch, he emphasized that the American people created these jobs. This is something Donald Trump would never do. While I think that humility and honesty are admirable qualities, at the same time Dems have to get better at taking credit for things. Trump takes credit for everything, we can do it sometimes.

… Rudy Giuliani’s former WABC radio co-host and long time “special friend” Maria Ryan has filed a lawsuit against station owner John Catsimatidis over their firing by the station. Rudy also has a lawsuit pending. One nugget in Ryan’s complaint is that she was only paid a paltry $200 a show. Sad! … CNN’s primetime ratings are down 46% and MSNBC’s are down 52% since the election. Fox is up 7%. Meidas is doing quite well, thanks for asking.

… New Democratic Rep Kristen McDonald Rivet, a mother of six, explains how she won her race by 7 points in a district Trump won by 2: “We ran exclusively on pocketbook issues - more money in pockets, better paying jobs, and just being real. I go to the grocery store and I’ve got a 15-year old boy who drinks two gallons of milk in a week. So I care about the price of groceries.”

… Moms for Liberty founder Tiffany Justice endorsed Kash Patel for FBI Director with this claim: “One day, a mom spoke at a school board meeting and the next day she was making peanut butter and jelly in her house and the FBI called to talk about what she just said. The fact that the FBI was weaponized against parents is outrageous.”

… I covered more extensively than anyone the mayhem that was happening at school board meetings in 2021 where elected officials were being threatened in meetings, walking to cars, and outside their homes. DOJ ultimately issued a directive to start investigating the threats. Nobody was arrested and the nonsense stopped after the policy was (finally!) implemented.

… But Merrick Garland utterly and completely failed to publicly defend his policy or the reasons behind it and allowed Republicans to set this narrative that Tiffany Justice is now dredging back up to promote Kash. This, just like Mayorkas on the border, was a glaring communications failure that turned many Americans against the Administration.

… OK, I’m done venting now. When will they start listening to me, though?

… Rand Paul says as soon as Pam Bondi is sworn in as AG, he will make a criminal referral to DOJ to prosecute Dr. Anthony Fauci: “We sent it twice to Merrick Garland for lying to Congress. We will send those again.” He then claimed that Fauci caused the pandemic by financing gain of function research: “We’re going to get to the bottom of this.” He also said that he hopes Trump strips Fauci of government security “on day one.”

… On Meet the Press, Trump reiterated that he intends to end birthright citizenship, something his Republican allies claimed after the election that he really didn’t intend to do. When told that the 14th Amendment grants citizens to all persons “born in the US,” he said, “Well, we’re going to have it changed. We’ll maybe have to go back to the people. But we have to end it.”

… While he is working on that, he said that he will deport the parents of children born in the US.

… Lindsey Graham: “Trump is right to end birthright citizenship by executive order on Day 1.”

… Trump also said he has “no problem” releasing his medical records. He’s just never done it. And I don’t count Ronny Jackson’s BS or the doctor in New Jersey who wrote a two-page letter for him while Trump was in Florida. I’m sure he will release them in two weeks with his infrastructure and health care plans.

[tanadrin]

Look I like the German heathcare system relative to the American one, and I realize the Europe of the American political imagination primarily exists as a rhetorical stick to beat other Americans with, but European healthcare is also not some magical fairyland. German healthcare is tied to employment like American healthcare and can cost some people a significant amount of money—even the public health insurance! NHS-style single-payer systems are not the norm in Europe, and even the NHS is suffering badly due to austerity and underinvestment.

Europe is not a progressive fairyland. Some things I do think the EU generally does better. But it does plenty of things worse. Even in the realm of healthcare—German doctors are way too likely to recommend CAM instead of real medicine, in part because it’s a lot cheaper for the health system to pay for. And sure, Germany has universal healthcare. But only in the sense that you are mandated by law to have it; if you can’t pay the minimum contribution you accrue debt with your last insurer and they will harass you about repaying it and take you to court like any other debt. As in the US, you can still get emergent care, but it’s a huge problem for, e.g., homeless people.

people who for very silly reasons want to market prepared food products without preservatives in them who then discover why we started putting preservatives in prepared food products in the first place (because without a preservation method food quickly grows stale, and frequently also moldy or downright toxic) is a consistently good bit. like people really seem to think we put Evil Chemicals in food on purpose for no reason.

[history-of-health-insurance]

60's-70's: Medicare/Medicaid

A major underserved population in the Heathcare system of the 50s was the elderly and low-income who both could not afford insurance, the elderly because of retirement, the low-income because they simply lacked the financial resources. 

President Lyndon B. Johnson was reelected in 1964 with a wide majority in Congress and subsequently felt he had the political strength to tackle healthcare reform as part of his larger project of the “Great Society”, which sought to fight against poverty and inequality prevalent in American society at the time. 

In 1966 LBJ passed Medicare which was major legislative work broken down into three parts.  

First there was Medicare part A which provided hospital coverage for the elderly, over the age of 65, based on social security eligibility and was funded by increased payroll taxes 

Second there was Medicare part B which was a voluntary insurance that provided physician care for the elderly and was funded by both federal taxes and insurance premiums.  

Finally, there was the Medicaid program which provided federal grants to states by matching their expenditures on state programs that provide care for low-income individuals. 

Medicare and Medicaid have since been reformed but to this day provide healthcare to millions of Americans 

[tomfooleryprime]

Imagine a dystopia where all food prices are set by the same people who price movie theater concessions. There are two types of people:

First type: Why does this bag of potatoes cost $87?

Second type: Innovation is what makes America’s food the best in the world. Potato farmers are just passing on their research and development costs to the consumer.

First type: I can’t afford “highly innovative” potatoes. Can’t I just buy the regular kind?

Second type: Due to patent issues, farmers can’t grow the regular kind anymore. And that’s why we have private food plans. Pay them a monthly fee, and sometimes they’ll cover a portion of your food bill.

First type: I have a private food plan. I pay a quarter of my paycheck to it every month and it doesn’t cover any fresh produce. Why won’t they cover my entire food bill?

Second type: Because paying $87 to buy every man, woman, and child in America a bag of potatoes every day would bankrupt the food plan.

First type: So if no one can afford it, not even private food plans, why does a bag of potatoes cost $87?

Second type: You clearly fail to understand the beauty of economic choice. In a free market, supply and demand sets the cost.

First type: But won’t there always be a demand for food? And how is buying it a choice? I can either buy it or watch myself and my family starve to death.

Second type: Socialist.

[scottguy]

It unbelievable to me that an American can call for the END of DEMOCRACY out loud in a roomful of other Americans ... and be cheered for it.

These suposedly "freedom loving" Republicans are literally cheering for the END of THEIR OWN FREEDOMS.

There will be no freedom under Trump's Nazi-like rule.

Like Republicans on all other issues like gun violence, they've never experienced it personally, so it can't be bad.

But imagine, do you think there were many pro-Hitler voices in Germany in 1944 when the country had been bombed into rubble? They gave Hitler all the power a few years before that and it ruined EVERYONES' lives.

Republicans, you will hate tyranny in America too. A Nazi-like Trump just MIGHT come for your guns! He will because...

You may soon want a violent anti- Republican revolution because Republicans had stolen your Social Security, your Medicare, or your heathcare plan, and/or driven up the cost of everything and put your kids on the street.

You'd want your freedoms back!

But you will have given Trump ALP the power, even to come and confiscate your guns. Voting won't stop him because votes are just for show under tyranny.

You think dictatorship sounds GREAT, like you think you'll get your way on every issue...

but ONLY when it serves the powerful. When the dictator class turns against you, which they WILL, because they WON'T NEED YOU ANYMORE. They will come after you too and they will screw your life hard for money. You know how the rich are.

But, there won't be a damn thing left to do about it because you gave away American democracy.

We've been proud of American democracy and not having a king-like president for 250 years for good reasons.

Why?

Because democracy = freedom.

That hasn't changed.

You're just kidding yourself that having a dictator will have no tragic consequences for your OWN life.

It will. It's inevitable. That's how unchecked power and greed always work in the long run.

Giving up democracy is the worst possible thing freedm loving Americans can do.

And, we will NOT be ABLE to get democracy back if it happens. They will have the power of the largest armed forces in the world.

Jack Posobiec advocates treason, and the people at CPAC cheer him! Pay attention, America!