Poll of the Day > Instead of insurance, why doesn't the government regulate hospital costs?

(+) Yeah! (+)

It wouldn't fit in the subject line, but

Instead of regulating the insurance industry, why doesn't the government regulate hospital costs? The outrageous prices are clearly the source of the problems. As a poor person, I have never understood this.
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We should all have free healthcare. Make orange man pay for it.

Because that would be socialism and all the politicians and news networks would tell you it's worse than Hitler compared to the privately owned American corporations which have rights too.
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NPCightengale posted...

We should all have free healthcare. Make orange man pay for it.

I get the feeling that this is a parody post, but something as vital and life-saving as healthcare shouldn't be an "industry". And why bother charging more money than someone will make in their lifetime when you know they won't ever pay it?
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Cause then politicians wouldnt get millions of dollars from insurance company lobbyists
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aHappySacka posted...

Because that would be socialism and all the politicians and news networks would tell you it's worse than Hitler compared to the privately owned American corporations which have rights too.

It's not, Switzerland and Japan do it.
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We have 700 billion dollars for war and defense every year but if we start providing healthcare, investing in education, or actually taking care of our veterans then America will collapse as a nation

What a powerful country, truly capable of anything
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People made college a business.

Doctors and chemists needed money to pay off the schooling.

Doctors and chemists made medicine a business.

Now you're stuck picking up their bills.
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Mead posted...

We have 700 billion dollars for war and defense every year but if we start providing healthcare, investing in education, or actually taking care of our veterans then America will collapse as a nation

What a powerful country, truly capable of anything

It's almost as if you have zero idea about how the world operates.

Let's just drop our defense budget to a few million and see how other first world countries respond, yeah?
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Mead posted...

Cause then politicians wouldnt get millions of dollars from insurance company lobbyists

Nuke them both. Filthy leeches...

Mead posted...

We have 700 billion dollars for war and defense every year but if we start providing healthcare, investing in education, or actually taking care of our veterans then America will collapse as a nation

We don't need to waste even more on education. Spending isn't the problem, the people need to want it. No amount of funding will keep a kid from daydreaming and failure if they choose that path. Can you make education more interesting? Maybe. But to me it seems like the fools are content with their miserable lives trolling the internet and bashing Trump. You chose to be stupid, deal with it.
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NPCightengale posted...

We should all have free healthcare. Make orange man pay for it.

The ultrarich and corporate tax breaks/loopholes would be more than enough to fund universal health care. The problem is America's "me first!" culture hasn't fostered a "for the good of the nation" mentality but "for the good of myself".
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TheCyborgNinja posted...

NPCightengale posted...

We should all have free healthcare. Make orange man pay for it.

The ultrarich and corporate tax breaks/loopholes would be more than enough to fund universal health care. The problem is America's "me first!" culture hasn't fostered a "for the good of the nation" mentality but "for the good of myself".

I agree! Those rich people need to share the healthcare. Its like if they decided to hog all of the water and sunlight for themselves! Natural resources belong to all of us.

Orange man bad. He needs to give us some of HIS healthcare! I bet he has enough for everyone!

GanglyKhan posted...

Mead posted...

We have 700 billion dollars for war and defense every year but if we start providing healthcare, investing in education, or actually taking care of our veterans then America will collapse as a nation

What a powerful country, truly capable of anything

It's almost as if you have zero idea about how the world operates.

Let's just drop our defense budget to a few million and see how other first world countries respond, yeah?

I think we could find a happy medium between 700 bill and nothing. We could be solving other problems with some of that money if the military nutjobs weren't so obsessed with swinging their balls around with the newest 'toys'.
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DPsx7 posted...

GanglyKhan posted...

Mead posted...

We have 700 billion dollars for war and defense every year but if we start providing healthcare, investing in education, or actually taking care of our veterans then America will collapse as a nation

What a powerful country, truly capable of anything

It's almost as if you have zero idea about how the world operates.

Let's just drop our defense budget to a few million and see how other first world countries respond, yeah?

I think we could find a happy medium between 700 bill and nothing. We could be solving other problems with some of that money if the military nutjobs weren't so obsessed with swinging their balls around with the newest 'toys'.

Yep

A lot of the foreign affairs our military gets involved with always seem to bite us in the ass anyways. May as well try fixing things in our own country before we decide to start meddling and policing the world.
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While we're on the subject of other countries, we can start by revoking all foreign aid. It's a useless waste of money.
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Better question: Why don't more hospitals starts turning people away for all the mundane shit they go for?

Awww, your kid has the sniffles??? I'm sorry, but why the fuck did you bring them to the hospital to waste doctors' precious time?!?!?! You realize there are HUNDREDS of cheaper over-the-counter medicines that can help simple cold/flu/fever/headache/nausea symptoms....right?

By taking your kid to the doctor, they are going to overprescribe some ridiculously stronger-than-necessary medication that will ultimately do what nyquil woulda done anyway, only cost you (and everyone else) more fucking money.

Stop being a bunch of hypochondriacs and only go to the hospital if it's a life threatening emergency. Everyone's health insurance premiums will decrease as a result.

Too bad such a dream is impossible.....considering America is saturated in obese elderly people who need to go to the fucking doctors office every week because they have breathing problems or restless leg syndrome or some shit.
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WarGreymon77 posted...

While we're on the subject of other countries, we can start by revoking all foreign aid. It's a useless waste of money.

For an isolationist country maybe not heavily involved in world trade. Most foreign aid is for our own benefit long term.
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GreenKnight127 posted...

Better question: Why don't more hospitals starts turning people away for all the mundane shit they go for?

Awww, your kid has the sniffles??? I'm sorry, but why the fuck did you bring them to the hospital to waste doctors' precious time?!?!?! You realize there are HUNDREDS of cheaper over-the-counter medicines that can help simple cold/flu/fever/headache/nausea symptoms....right?

By taking your kid to the doctor, they are going to overprescribe some ridiculously stronger-than-necessary medication that will ultimately do what nyquil woulda done anyway, only cost you (and everyone else) more fucking money.

Stop being a bunch of hypochondriacs and only go to the hospital if it's a life threatening emergency. Everyone's health insurance premiums will decrease as a result.

Too bad such a dream is impossible.....considering America is saturated in obese elderly people who need to go to the fucking doctors office every week because they have breathing problems or restless leg syndrome or some shit.

On the contrary, many people--including myself--never go to the doctor, even when we really should, because we know we can't afford it.
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What I don't get is why your health insurance doesn't work the same way as car insurance...

I mean, the rest of the world doesn't have free car care
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Lokarin posted...

What I don't get is why your health insurance doesn't work the same way as car insurance...

I mean, the rest of the world doesn't have free car care

You can keep living if your car gets sick
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Mead posted...

We have 700 billion dollars for war and defense every year but if we start providing healthcare, investing in education, or actually taking care of our veterans then America will collapse as a nation

What a powerful country, truly capable of anything

Overlooking that defense spending fuels a lot of industries (not to mention stops certain things from becoming bigger issues), the total healthcare budget would be higher than that (considering it's roughly 600b in *all* defense spending vs 3.3t in healthcare) unless we made pretty massive cuts to level of service. Most of the nations with government healthcare tend to economize a lot more when it comes to patients and make the final determination over whether somebody lives or dies (including barring patients from receiving treatment elsewhere in some cases). And that's JUST medical. You also mentioned education which, by the way, is *already* massively subsidized.

GanglyKhan posted...

People made college a business.

Doctors and chemists needed money to pay off the schooling.

Doctors and chemists made medicine a business.

Now you're stuck picking up their bills.

Nobody "made" college a business, it was always effectively a business. While for-profit universities are a newer thing, they're a minority. College always had a price tag attached. Even lower education used to have a price tag attached. These aren't new ideas. What's a little newer is all of the certifications, insurances, etc, that doctors and hospitals need to carry. However, hospitals are subsidized by the government anyway.

TheCyborgNinja posted...

NPCightengale posted...

We should all have free healthcare. Make orange man pay for it.

The ultrarich and corporate tax breaks/loopholes would be more than enough to fund universal health care. The problem is America's "me first!" culture hasn't fostered a "for the good of the nation" mentality but "for the good of myself".

What? Put down that kool-aid. And wanting free shit is the epitome of me first.

WarGreymon77 posted...

While we're on the subject of other countries, we can start by revoking all foreign aid. It's a useless waste of money.

Also not true. The US has a vested interest in ensuring that other nations are stable. While some spending is clearly less essential than other spending, much of it can be something of a necessity *especially* because it gives us bargaining power when dealing with nations.

WarGreymon77 posted...

On the contrary, many people--including myself--never go to the doctor, even when we really should, because we know we can't afford it.

Also not really true. While there are people who don't see a doctor, a *large* amount of ER expenses involve people going to the ER for problems that other medical professionals should be handling.
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Oh hey, I just realized that Kana made a new account having having closed her old one without the "PC" in front of the first "N"!

Then again, I can't see any reason for her to care about American politics, so it might be some impersonator...
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Im not so sure that is actually kana
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GanglyKhan posted...

Mead posted...

We have 700 billion dollars for war and defense every year but if we start providing healthcare, investing in education, or actually taking care of our veterans then America will collapse as a nation

What a powerful country, truly capable of anything

It's almost as if you have zero idea about how the world operates.

Let's just drop our defense budget to a few million and see how other first world countries respond, yeah?

The US will spend $892 BILLION on the military next year, more than the next 9 largest militaries on earth combined!

We could easily cut our spending in half and we'd still outspend China, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the UK together.

68% of the discretionary budget goes towards the military! Education gets just 5%. Health 5%. Transportation 2%. Science 2%. Food & Agriculture 1%. Can you imagine what we could do if we slashed the military budget in half and funneled all that money into science and education?

EclairReturns posted...

Oh hey, I just realized that Kana made a new account having having closed her old one without the "PC" in front of the first "N"!

Then again, I can't see any reason for her to care about American politics, so it might be some impersonator...

That was definitely not Kana, dude.

And that account already got suspended.
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Sarcasthma posted...

definitely not Kana

Oh.
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Sorry but more money for education would make a huge difference. I'm not teaching because 40+ students per class with no teachers aids and special needs students being integrated is crazy. I'm not going to touch the college system, but I honestly think any class with over 20 students should have another adult helping. Doesn't have to be two teachers, but should either be volunteer parents (nobody has time) or teachers aids (either free while getting credentialed, or paid for.

Course schools are closing like crazy and don't have money for the teachers, let alone teachers aids (or for supplies etc)...so yeah it's not gonna happen.

But money would help, ALOT. There are plenty of good teachers out there that want to make a difference, but you try dealing with such large classrooms for a few years, it can burn almost anyone out.
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