Got to fight tooth and nail to protect tax cuts for bajillionaires, yo. Who knows, any one of us might be one someday.

OOH LOOK a shiny new proxy war we can grift off - lets make sure senators with no business there get to go schmooze with the top brass as we siphon through the MIC!

-

The US is a plastic Imperialist joke of "democracy" -- its Oligarchs all the way down. Always has been.

I always scoff at all of the endless "How will we pay for it???" crap. We'll pay for it by cutting out massive inefficiencies like the insurance system (which is basically a giant RICO scam), which would introduce an incredible burst of innovation and efficiency, as Americans got unshackled from jobs they were only in for insurance benefits & were able to take more creative risks and move into jobs more suited for them. Also, the way we do healthcare straight up costs twice as much while also producing less care.

yeah, I find it odd, just add up the revenue of the health insurance industry, that's how much you americans are paying, then see how much profit and overheads they have, that's how much health care money is directly not going to actual health outcomes, and then work out if you can do a better system. Should be a case that overall, everyone pays less and you get better outcomes. But, I can't see it ever happening for you guys. Americans are weird, they seem ok when americans let americans die and suffer, but if anyone else trys it, they spend whatever they have to show the world not to mess with America.

Literally. What is called "profit" in a private industry is what would be called "waste" in a public service. It's literally money that runs through the system and accumulates rather than being used. Ironically when politicians want to run a public service more "like a business", they will try to squeeze the budget to cut costs to in turn justify further cuts until the service fails to do what it was originally meant to do and has to be replaced by a for-profit industry that generates an even larger overhead at even more cost to society once you factor in the fees, subsidies and other factors.

We were just one Senate vote away (Joe Lieberman) from getting a public option during the Obama administration. The law essentially needed a 60% supermajority to pass and it had 59% support of our legislature. Quite tragic - the next generation may get to try again.

Yup. The guy from Connecticut had to side with the insurance lobby. He had been on the ticket with Gore in 2000, so this was a total betrayal by a democrat. He didn’t even run for reelection after that vote, so he just burned everyone for no reason other than he wanted to keep the system we have today that hurts people and helps insurance companies. This guy is trash.

You can try right now.

It will not stand a chance without a filibuster-proof majority. Time is better spent pursuing policy changes that actually stand a realistic chance of passing.

Politicians claim they're in favor of small business and then refuse to enact the simplest changes (as in, reducing the age of eligibility for Medicare) that would reduce business overhead.

Bootstraps and all that…

Lots of people don't want universal health care for reasons that are not incredible. I've had employer provided insurance I'm happy with ever since I left my student insurance plan over 25 years ago and have few complaints about it. I'd prefer not to risk transitioning to a universal system that might provide worse care than what I've always had. Kaiser in CA for example is the worst insurance I've had - would not want to return to anything like that where there is a single network of providers. That was my mistake though - I didn't have to choose Kaiser, I had other options.

Universal health care doesn’t preclude the existence of private care. A number of countries have universal public health care, but if you want to pay extra, there is also private insurance and a private network of physicians and hospitals.

A number of countries have universal healthcare largely acheived through private providers and insurers, e.g., through means-tested subsidies and coverage mandates.

In addition to that: Universal health care does not mandate a single provider. Where I live there are many health insurance companies to choose from, some are statuary others are private. All it means is that the statuary ones cannot deny you as long as you fulfill certain requirements ("Universal" health care is never really universal).

So I would have to spend more for the same care I have now? No thanks.

Not necessarily. For some countries mandatory public health contributions plus good private insurance, can still work out to cheaper than good private insurance alone in the US. This is because when private insurance has to compete with a universal public option, prices go down.

"I'd prefer not to risk transitioning to a universal system that might provide worse care than what I've always had."

Your insurance is employer provided? You risk that every day then. Lots of people in the past few years have woken up to find out that their job - and with it their employer provided insurance - has gone bye-bye.

Yeah, we have COBRA to continue it at exorbitant rates for some period of time. But health care should not be tied to employment.

I'd be OK with a universal health care system where employers can offer better but everybody has a baseline health care where nobody - absolutely nobody - has to struggle to get basic healthcare. (And that includes dental and vision, which is absolutely boggling that we've decided "oh, those body parts are not included.")

It's a minuscule risk I'm comfortable with and manage actively. I got into this line of work because there's high demand. I haven't been without a job and make all of my career related decisions to optimize continued employment. I got bored of software 20 years ago and really am only in it for the insurance and pay. I've been laid off and gotten another job the same day.

> I got bored of software 20 years ago and really am only in it for the insurance and pay.

And you don't see how this is a horrible state of affairs? What of those who are forced to the same, but in careers that are actively harmful to their person?

I’d transition to worse and more expensive healthcare if that’s what it takes to get to healthcare for everyone.

The transition will be painful for many who have good employer provided healthcare, but at least then we’ll have a somewhat unified voice demanding better care at better costs.

Every politician would be beholden to every voter on healthcare issues during every election.

So millions of Americans don't have access to healthcare and die early because they can't afford it, but you don't want things to change because you're comfortable? Got it.

I advocate for myself, others should do the same. Medicaid is there for retirees and disabled folks and the rest of us should be working. I don't know what these millions you mention are doing where they can't afford healthcare, but there are plenty of job and education opportunities out there that will provide insurance if you're willing to study and work, which I think is fair.

What if someone trying to pay for their kid's chemo hit you over the head with a hammer to take your wallet and left you unable to continue your current line of work?

I never quite understood this fear that you're going to lose some benefit of the insurance you have now. It's not like all the hospitals and doctors suddenly go away so if you have a preferred doctor or facility you'll most likely be able to keep going to them and you'll have more choices as every place will be "in-network". Contrary to your experience, I've had good results with Kaiser and one thing I like about it is not having to call around to various "in-network" providers to find out if they are taking new patients and if they can see me.

Ah the age old “F- you, I’ve got mine”.

Twice in my career had the insurance plan swept out from under me. Both times my decent, but not great PPO was replaced with HSA only options. Forcing me to change jobs.

Personality, I’d rather not have my insurance options tied to the whims of a CFO and whatever kickbacks they’re getting.

An easier first step would be to force all healthcare and hospitals to be non-profit, and never enter the stock market. Shareholders want profit, and an easy way to profit on healthcare is to deny benefits.