Re:Entrepreneurs Can Lead Us Out of the Crisis
by rarrrrrr on Tuesday February 24, 2009 @10:36PM
(#493995)
I am optimistic that universal health care may reduce costs indirectly.
We see stark differences in food quality laws in countries where the government pays for health care. For example, in most of Europe there's real sugar instead of corn syrup in soda. In Canada, Trans Fats are listed to several significant digits in the nutrition facts, whereas in the US the FDA allows rounding down to 0.0g when under 0.5g per serving.
If we look at the FDA food pyramid, and then compare farm subsidies, they are almost inverse. Better food quality alone would reduce costs, but right now there's no incentive.
Re:Entrepreneurs Can Lead Us Out of the Crisis
by anamax on Wednesday February 25, 2009 @09:53AM
(#494407)
> We see stark differences in food quality laws in countries where the government pays for health care. For example, in most of Europe there's real sugar instead of corn syrup in soda.
There's no "corn lobby" in the EU, a lobby that won't go away with universal healthcare.
> I am optimistic that universal health care may reduce costs indirectly.
"optimistic" isn't a plan or an estimation of likelyhood.
And if we all had ponies...
We can't have cheap fast passenger rail because the economics don't work out. The US is too big. It doesn't even work in CA (which is why the proponents have stopped putting up revenue and employment projections).
The US doesn't even have all that many places where local mass transit makes economic sense.
> Also, universal healthcare. If the U.S. were to join the First World on this issue, it would be immensely valuable to small businesses, and remove a significant component of the risk inherent in starting a company.
US govt healthcare, which covers half of the covered population, costs about the same as private (which covers the other half). In other words, US govt healthcare is no cheaper than private healthcare.
How will making it universal change that? (If you're going to argue that it will, why not demonstrate that it will with existing US govt healthcare?)
If "universal" isn't cheaper, how will it help small biz?