Speaking of ACA

[NW-Bound]

The difference between illnesses and car accidents is that not all illnesses can be prevented, or under control of the patients.

People have cancer all the time, and nobody knows why. I remember reading somewhere 1/10 of lung cancer patients are not smokers.

Does it make a difference that people get sick despite a healthy lifestyle? Or do we say tough luck?

Do we help each other, or to each his own? And if we help, how far do we go?

These are not easy questions to answer.

 

[USGrant1962]

No law is perfect? LOL!

How many government officials do you imagine will it take to track if you smoke, how many drinks you consume, and how many calories you consume?

Or is this just a fun but completely impractical thought exercise?

I think the suggestion was for something like a Federal sales tax on alcohol, tobacco, and food to fund healthcare.

 

[samclem]

I think the suggestion was for something like a Federal sales tax on alcohol, tobacco, and food to fund healthcare.

And the painless insertion of a small chip in the neck to track exercise activity. It could have other features that users would learn about over time. Imagine the convenience of never needing to remember another password, just for starters. Google or Amazon would probably handle the whole program for free, no cost to the USG. A win-win!

 

[HFWR]

Too lazy to read every post, so pardon any redundancies...

If your employer subsidizes/subsidized your HI, you were receiving it tax free.

If forced to buy HI in the open market, the premiums will be high and deductibles will be high.

Medicare is “socialized insurance”, but is seemingly popular.

There is no plan to replace...

 

[candrew]

I don't have data to back it up, but it seems the majority of healthcare costs are spent at the end of life. Modern medicine has many wonderful treatments to (possibly) extend our life by some amount, but at great cost. There is an ethical question about these expensive treatments; should everyone be given them regardless of ability to pay? Since we know that ultimately nothing is free; who will end up paying?

Insurance is simply a bucket of money that people pay into, and those who have need are paid out of that bucket. While on a moral basis I like the idea of coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions, it's fair to say that person will need more $ more often out of that bucket. So should they be required to only pay the same amount into the bucket as you?

I think of it like auto insurance; do you want share the same bucket with the careless driver with lots of tickets and accidents when you are a safe driver? I know I don't; but what if the insurance company is required to add them to your pool and charge the same amount, even though they're a much higher risk and will likely use more $ in the bucket?

Community-rated health insurance is the socially fair approach. That is how the majority of employer sponsored healthcare plans function. It spreads the risks evenly among all the insured. It removes the punitive element (except for those who engage in behaviors like tobacco use). It does not discriminate against the very sick, nor against those of us who are at higher risk because of our age (say, over 50) or our gender (reproductive-age females have higher health expenses than men, for obvious reasons).

We should not be drawing comparisons between health insurance and auto insurance. At some point in our lives all of us will predictably need health care. Hence health insurance is unlike any other form of insurance; we all are involved.

 

[urn2bfree]

No law is perfect? LOL!



How many government officials do you imagine will it take to track if you smoke, how many drinks you consume, and how many calories you consume?



Or is this just a fun but completely impractical thought exercise?

Wow! This might be the easiest counter argument in history...

I am not sure any additional government official is required to collect taxes on the sale of products at the point of purchase.
Tobacco already is taxed, probably not enough to pay for the damages it causes, nor is the revenue specifically channeled to health care. We could change that. Add a per calorie tax and alcohol taxes and the free loaders who make all the rest of us pay higher premiums for their bad habits actually start paying their fair share.
Very possible.
Very practical.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

This is getting silly, if the majority of the civilized world can figure out some form of universal healthcare I am sure the Great old United States of America can too. Make basic care Non profit for a start. If we spent a fraction less money on perpetual Wars and the Military, along with curbing just some of the waste, it would work.

 

[Walt34]