New government projections show U.S. health spending will eat more of our GDP while life expectancy and coverage rates decline — but AHIP and Wall Street keep cashing in.
Stop AHIP and their corporate bureaucrats. We deserve a national healthcare system free at the point of service, free of all middlemen, and therefore free of all profit. This will be funded entirely by a progressive tax. (so the wealthy pay their fair share)
Honestly I think we may be looking at this the wrong way. Why should more spending lead to healthier people? The healthiest people I know spend almost nothing on healthcare bc *they are healthy.* We are not a healthy country and we need to face that fact. There is an enormous burden placed on the system by conditions that could often be reduced or eliminated with a lifestyle change.
A. Obviously all the profit centers have strong lobbies and are good at gaming the system, but that would not produce the astronomical waste in our system. There is also an ideological foundation: 1. We believe that some of us are entitled to better care. 2. We believe that we get better care when providers compete, and when we pay more. 3. At the same time we believe that the old and infirm should have a minimum of care. B. As a result we do not have an integrated delivery system. Instead, we have a collection of profit centers, all maximizing their own revenues. C. The people who know the score are 99% bought off. D. The insecurity of medical coverage makes us all more anxious- and sicker as a result. E. Employers believe that the fear of losing coverage helps discourage strikes.
You pointed to “selective recital of partial numbers.” To what recital of what numbers were you referring? More important, do you disagree with his broad thesis that we spend too much on, and get too little from, our health care system? What if anything do you think is wrong with our health care system, and what if anything would you recommend be changed? By the way I agree with you that our aging population contributes to the aggregate cost of the system, but the populations of other developed countries are aging even faster, and their costs continue to be lower than ours.
This biggest problem with healthcare is the government.
They are unreliable, rife with theft and change their minds to at least some degree every time an election cycle occurs.
The goal of the author of this post, by using selective and partial information, is to convince you that the private side of the equation is the issue because he wants single payor (government) so he can secure care for himself and his fellow boomers.
Now, there’s not much we can do about the aging population bubble except wait for it to pass.
It will be about 10 years until it peaks.
This is where we are.
But make no mistake, the majority of the high cost comes from all the stealing that goes on in the government, not the private sector.
No company could EVER allow what goes on in the government, to go on in their business. If they did, they wouldn’t have a business.
I mean c’mon Santiago, we don’t want the government running our healthcare 10 years from now when the boomer crisis has peaked and we’re stuck with the remnants of a system pushed for by the “me” generation, whose only interest is themselves.
One look at the world the boomers are leaving behind is really all you need to do that calculus.
Besides, the government can barely keep the roads paved, the bridges intact and the planes in the air.
Do you REALLY want them running healthcare once the boomer bubble has passed and our societal healthcare needs have dropped greatly?
No, you don’t. Because once it gets that far and the taxation occurs to support single payor, we will NEVER get that back.
It will be 40%+ taxes for the rest of our lives if we let it get that far.
Unless im missing something her math doesn’t add up, which wouldn’t be surprising. She claims the companies defraud taxpayers to the tune of $80b a year. Then later says the administration just doubled the amount of taxpayer money going to those companies, leading to an increase of $25b. But that means that last year the total taxpayer money going to them was $25b. So how could they be defrauding $80b a year?
Not defending those jokers btw, just noticing the math doesn’t tie.
Biden suggested 2.5% increase in corporate welfare given to private for profit health insurance scamming with their part c plans. current administration increased corporate welfare to 5.06%. That must be the 25 billion increase.
Great piece, but how do you not mention the role of large hospital systems? AOC only mentioned insurers and pharma, but not hospitals. Many hospitals struggle to get by, especially those in rural areas. But many lobby the government as extensively as the insurer lobby and pay their MBA executives millions to find more revenues that screw consumers and the government.
I’d be curious what that looks like and what the goal would be. I think the concern is how large corporate entities charge patients, exclude competition and other non competitive practices. The concern isn’t with quality of care issues which state medical boards regulate. I think we just need a more accurate term than “corp practice of medicine.”
The solution is staring us in the face - Medicare for All.
Stop AHIP and their corporate bureaucrats. We deserve a national healthcare system free at the point of service, free of all middlemen, and therefore free of all profit. This will be funded entirely by a progressive tax. (so the wealthy pay their fair share)
Honestly I think we may be looking at this the wrong way. Why should more spending lead to healthier people? The healthiest people I know spend almost nothing on healthcare bc *they are healthy.* We are not a healthy country and we need to face that fact. There is an enormous burden placed on the system by conditions that could often be reduced or eliminated with a lifestyle change.
People cannot always choose their health nor level of pain.
Of course but that’s not what I’m talking about.
Kennedy's ignorance is .....outlandish, unacceptable, outrageous and incompetent.
Five comments:
A. Obviously all the profit centers have strong lobbies and are good at gaming the system, but that would not produce the astronomical waste in our system. There is also an ideological foundation: 1. We believe that some of us are entitled to better care. 2. We believe that we get better care when providers compete, and when we pay more. 3. At the same time we believe that the old and infirm should have a minimum of care. B. As a result we do not have an integrated delivery system. Instead, we have a collection of profit centers, all maximizing their own revenues. C. The people who know the score are 99% bought off. D. The insecurity of medical coverage makes us all more anxious- and sicker as a result. E. Employers believe that the fear of losing coverage helps discourage strikes.
I agree with good jobs and all that unions do, although Medicare for all act will get employers out of our healthcare
More spin from this guy 🤦♂️
He never seems to mention the boomer population bubble and the impact their advancing age is having.
He’s trying to trick you with selective recital of partial numbers.
Oh no! Not Jerry the boomer bubble guy again!🤦🏻♀️
You and the truth don’t meet up very often, do you?
So actually our health care system is highly cost-effective and delivers value for money?
That’s non-responsive to the point I made.
It’s healthcare, not Walmart.
You state: “He’s trying to trick you with selective recital of partial numbers.” Surely you don’t think the numbers are wonderful?
Which numbers, Santiago?
Which portions of the selective and partial information are you pointing out?
You pointed to “selective recital of partial numbers.” To what recital of what numbers were you referring? More important, do you disagree with his broad thesis that we spend too much on, and get too little from, our health care system? What if anything do you think is wrong with our health care system, and what if anything would you recommend be changed? By the way I agree with you that our aging population contributes to the aggregate cost of the system, but the populations of other developed countries are aging even faster, and their costs continue to be lower than ours.
Still didn’t answer my question.
Instead, you asked a different question.
Whatever, that’s fine
This biggest problem with healthcare is the government.
They are unreliable, rife with theft and change their minds to at least some degree every time an election cycle occurs.
The goal of the author of this post, by using selective and partial information, is to convince you that the private side of the equation is the issue because he wants single payor (government) so he can secure care for himself and his fellow boomers.
Now, there’s not much we can do about the aging population bubble except wait for it to pass.
It will be about 10 years until it peaks.
This is where we are.
But make no mistake, the majority of the high cost comes from all the stealing that goes on in the government, not the private sector.
No company could EVER allow what goes on in the government, to go on in their business. If they did, they wouldn’t have a business.
I mean c’mon Santiago, we don’t want the government running our healthcare 10 years from now when the boomer crisis has peaked and we’re stuck with the remnants of a system pushed for by the “me” generation, whose only interest is themselves.
One look at the world the boomers are leaving behind is really all you need to do that calculus.
Besides, the government can barely keep the roads paved, the bridges intact and the planes in the air.
Do you REALLY want them running healthcare once the boomer bubble has passed and our societal healthcare needs have dropped greatly?
No, you don’t. Because once it gets that far and the taxation occurs to support single payor, we will NEVER get that back.
It will be 40%+ taxes for the rest of our lives if we let it get that far.
And the boomers?
They won’t care, they’ll be dead.
Get it?
Don't blame us. You can no longer send us away on ice floes because they've melted. Blame corporate greed. Your day will come.
Boom, Boom, Boom
When you're a boomer,
And life goes boom.
Boom into community:
Teach it booming from experience.
I think you need to go take your meds.
The world we live in is the one boomers created, allowed and did nothing about.
Do you deny this?
At minimum, what we need is public-private competition.
That’s why the insurance industry fought to keep the public option out of Obamacare.
Unless im missing something her math doesn’t add up, which wouldn’t be surprising. She claims the companies defraud taxpayers to the tune of $80b a year. Then later says the administration just doubled the amount of taxpayer money going to those companies, leading to an increase of $25b. But that means that last year the total taxpayer money going to them was $25b. So how could they be defrauding $80b a year?
Not defending those jokers btw, just noticing the math doesn’t tie.
Biden suggested 2.5% increase in corporate welfare given to private for profit health insurance scamming with their part c plans. current administration increased corporate welfare to 5.06%. That must be the 25 billion increase.
She says $80b per year
She cited the fraud was $80B. I assume that was cumulative. She doesn't cite what we pay now before the $25B increase. I'd like to see that data.
https://www.realclearhealth.com/2025/06/06/its_the_hospitals_senator_1114949.html
There's the fact that private equity increasingly owns hospitals. It ruined my safety-net hospital. https://abc7chicago.com/post/weiss-memorial-hospital-chicago-experiencing-catastrophic-loss-air-conditioning-amid-warm-weather-repairs-take-days/16777609/
https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/06/25/patients-moved-from-one-sweltering-hospital-to-another-just-trying-to-survive/
Great piece, but how do you not mention the role of large hospital systems? AOC only mentioned insurers and pharma, but not hospitals. Many hospitals struggle to get by, especially those in rural areas. But many lobby the government as extensively as the insurer lobby and pay their MBA executives millions to find more revenues that screw consumers and the government.
need a federal ban on the corporate practice of medicine. one that is strict and actually enforced (unlike the various state bans).
I’d be curious what that looks like and what the goal would be. I think the concern is how large corporate entities charge patients, exclude competition and other non competitive practices. The concern isn’t with quality of care issues which state medical boards regulate. I think we just need a more accurate term than “corp practice of medicine.”