31 Comments
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Susananda's avatar

The USA does not have single payer because Republicans have obstructed not for profit healthcare for decades. Republicans fight for the for -profit healthcare industry to police themselves.

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William N Davis II's avatar

You can blame the GOP all you want, but the Dems are not without support from the industry that owns both sides of the duopoly.

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Susananda's avatar

Yea and corporations are common folk.

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Susananda's avatar

Now centers for Medicare services are trying to put a something called MISeR plan (another corrupt corporate welfare scam) onto all original traditional Medicare. One more idea to stop.

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Erica's avatar

This one is owned by both sides of the aisle. NY introduced single payer in 1992. Dems have held all three branches for decades, and still won't bring it to the floor for a vote. Our reps tell us they support it, but 1000% won't vote for it.

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𝓙𝓪𝓼𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓮 𝓦𝓸𝓵𝓯𝓮's avatar

Sorry, the GOP and a massive fuck ton of help from the Democrats.

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Susananda's avatar

Passing Medicare for all will save thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars and will prevent 500,000 medical bankruptcy every year. It will be paid for by a progressive tax.

Our private for profit healthcare has diverted 79 trillion from the working class to the wealthy one percent over the last 50 years.

Personally, my family has been double covered for years. The insurance companies are happy to take double premiums.

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Jerry Myers's avatar

That’s some seriously flawed logic you’ve got going there.

Take the very thing that is being ripped off left and right and expand it while deploying a progressive tax that will saddle generations to come?

Lol, yeah, no.

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𝓙𝓪𝓼𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓮 𝓦𝓸𝓵𝓯𝓮's avatar

Kk, never, ever going to happen. I'm 57 years old. The standard of living in the US has dropped precipitously in my lifetime. NOTHING has EVER gotten better. The DNC is a private corporation. Our "government" is a fucking crime syndicate. What's happening in Palestine is coming here next.

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Susananda's avatar

Forgive me and have you heard of Christian Nationalism.

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𝓙𝓪𝓼𝓶𝓲𝓷𝓮 𝓦𝓸𝓵𝓯𝓮's avatar

Of course. That is a tool of the fascists 🤦‍♀️ My point is that instead of the standard of living getting better it got dramatically worse in my lifetime. And the Republicans didn't do it by themselves. The Democrats are complicit.

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Susananda's avatar

Imagine how many people could be helped from suffering with only the budget in United health group’s marketing department.

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Zachary W. Schulz's avatar

Really appreciate how clearly you laid this out. The scale of this takedown is staggering on its own, but what sticks with me is how you point out it’s just the tip of the iceberg. The fact that so much of this “legal” grift is built right into the business models of insurers and PBMs is honestly more outrageous than the criminal scams—because we all pay for it and barely anyone gets held accountable.

I write over at Absurd Care about the ways our fragmented system incentivizes exactly this kind of abuse, and it lines up with what I studied in my MPH—when you look through a systems thinking lens, you see how fraud isn’t an accident of the design. It is the design. Thanks for connecting the dots and not letting corporate fraud off the hook.

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Susananda's avatar

Private for-profit health insurance lobbyists are the designers

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Bill Whitten's avatar

These problems apply to any public service that has been privatized for profit. Prisons, schools, healthcare, utilities etc. And this isn’t necessarily evil. The whole reason a for-profit entity exists is profit, not service. They’ll only provide as much service as is required to generate profit. Only when we provide the service ourselves (via collective effort ie government) can the profit motive of lowest quality at highest price be flipped to highest quality at lowest cost.

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Susananda's avatar

Our private for-profit healthcare has diverted 79 trillion from the working class to the wealthy one percent over the last 50 years

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Susananda's avatar

Solution

Encourage all members of this 119th Congress to co- sponsor Medicare for Acts.

House bill 3069

Senate bill 1506

US will not need Medicaid anymore and prescription drugs will be covered also.

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Mary Jo Wilkins's avatar

It’s all become a PONZI scheme… to collect billions in premiums and pay out little to nothing.. they buy the politicians to enshrine their greed!

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Susananda's avatar

Thank you to Arizona attorney general for taking the initiative in prosecuting entities involved that awful scheme involving indigenous people.

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Susananda's avatar

Most of our politicians seem to go with rich lobbyists and a lot of corporate welfare when it involves for-profit private health insurance corporations.

We deserve to get profit out of our healthcare.

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Susananda's avatar

Check out

nationalsinglepayer.com

all in The Arizona Medicare for All Coalition

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Susananda's avatar

Flawed is as flawed does

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Timothy Duffy's avatar

First, Republicans did not take away Medicaid. They are just requiring those who are capable of working to continue receiving Medicaid. Second, Republicans did not take away Snap benefits. Again they just tightened the requirements to be eligible. Third, many self-employed make enough income to choose a medical plan in the Marketplace and possibly receive a premium subsidy. Lastly, not sure if your phrasing about “under paid workers” implies they are purposely under paid or you meant to say “low wage workers”. Either way, they will still be eligible for Medicaid and Snap benefits.

We have created a dependent class that can last for generations and that is definitely not good for the human psyche. People thrive and have better lives when they have a purpose. As I said in my first comment, Medicaid was created specifically for low/no wage and disabled. It has grown into a catch-all for many able bodied individuals. If the work requirement was Ok when Bill Clinton was

President what’s different now?

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Susananda's avatar

Are you describing 50 years of obstructing republicans in Congress. They are paid a sweet salary to work and compromise for all sides.

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Timothy Duffy's avatar

So are you saying that Democrats never double deal?

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Susananda's avatar

Let us have peace for states with Medicare for All Acts.

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Susananda's avatar

I’m saying Democrats will feed 100 people for fear that one of them might starve and Republicans will let 100 people starve for fear that one of them might not deserve food

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Susananda's avatar

I recently talked to some people from Canada and they said the opposite that you can get the care you need, although primary care was hard to come by in Canada.

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Timothy Duffy's avatar

I had to laugh at the headline. The reason is because government rarely if ever care about fraud, waste and abuse. I challenge anyone to provide a government controlled anything that is run efficiently. Please don’t cite Social Security or Medicare. Those entitlements are “dollars in, dollar out. Then run on autopilot.

I always enjoy Susananda response. The solution is single payer. As much as you’d like to think so, single payer is not free Susan. Canada is always used as an example of single payer. Primary care is good but that’s where it ends. Those with serious medical issues wait months for care, and if you don’t think that wouldn’t happen in the US you’re in dream land.

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Elizabeth J. Sampson's avatar

If you are not in a large city, that is happening right now. You already have to wait months to see a favored doctor. Also republicans just took away Medicaid and food stamps so for all you self-employed people and underpaid workers everywhere will no longer have subsidized health insurance. Or SNAP.

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Susananda's avatar

Yes stay healthy or be wealthy. So more trillions in debt we go with Republicans in charge….that’s because politicians or their dark partners will be given a lot of the interest on “our” national debt.

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