Government Run Healthcare

The man is a civil servant. Gotta admire the chutzpa.

That’s funny, but yeah kinda got to “admire” the guy :wink:

I dunno if it’s a public only thing, but I’ve seen
something akin to it in large private companies too.
Certainly not to this degree , but people that abuse the system they
are in by taking great liberties with their time and work output.

There are always folks that take advantage of things and in large
organizations opportunities present themselves.

Govt health care, what could go wrong?

There’s a guy at the VA reading this, saying “hold my beer”

Isn’t it like 15 years before you can schedule a procedure.

It makes me think of:


Meanwhile back at the Costanza household.

I think Dana has also been getting a government paycheck while skipping work.

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Medicare at 65 with many having a private policy on the side to subsidize it works bc at 65 many are not insurable for full blown private ins if they retire or get fired and even if they tried the rates would not allow them to retire and Medicare is a gov run policy which many forget. I think a buy in policy to buy into Medicare at 55 is ok only if you want to , otherwise keep the private ins with your company until you have to go that route this way it’s the best of both worlds in that keep your private policy until you can’t work or retire. I’m against full blown Medicare or gov run for all but a buy in at 55 is an ok option as a choice. We’d then have a good system bc most below 55 are relatively healthy. My dad has Medicare then an atnea side ins policy. If you don’t believe me, call for private rates on a 65 or 70 yr old. Medicare was developed as a policy to ins. The uninsurable at 65 and older. Again I’d hate full blown gov ins for all but keep in mind, we do have gov run at 65 which works at that age.

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Yup, like live 4-5 more years but as some clearly say, life is overrated.

Other point on health ins and the reason many don’t care even though it was the 1st or 3rd top issue in the last few elections, is bc as we know , we get health ins thru work and a work policy can’t drop you for pre-existing issues and the rates are subsidized by the gov thru that work policy so you don’t pay full cost which is part of the benefits package. This is why if you ask the 28 yr that has a job and is married about high ins or the issue in general, you get a blank stare as to why health ins is an election issue. The only time health care is an issue for most of us , is if you get fired and can’t find a job with employer ins or you get fired later in life in your 50s or 60s then can’t get a job but you have yrs to go before reaching 65 for Medicare. Your then at the mercy of blue cross trying to buy a policy on your own in your 50s vs having company ins. Company ins. has insulated us all from the the issues others might face which is why it keeps popping up as an election issue. I think another good gov policy also might be to untie ins from work along with the subsidy then allow all to buy their own ins privately and pass the subsidy directly to each person as a tax deduction and then we’d be freer to job hop or have a lesser job. It would also have to cover pre-existing issues or cap rates for high risks and have a no drop clause which was proposed an election or so ago but that candidate lost. It’s a tough issue but our work policies are non droppable and are subsidized so we move on and like it as long as employed or employable. For group rates, they could insure by state or region. I never felt employers should have their hands in the health care industry bc it traps people in jobs.This is why Obamacare popped up to fill that gap but there could be other ways to solve it like mentioned here.

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I lived in Italy as a private citizen (not military) for 1 1/2 years from 1982-84. I moved around some and had interaction with government officials. No line in the US government at any level can compare with a socialist government line. It’s just unreal and you have to experience it.

I also had the opportunity to visit the ER of a public hospital. Blood in various degrees of freshness on the floor, the paper sheets on the examination table, and open trash bins FILLED with bloody gauze.

All this to say that I wouldn’t go to a public Italian hospital again EVEN IF THEY PAID ME!!

I guess this guy felt the same way too.

I’d agree that I wouldn’t want full blown gov care before 55 or 65 bc of the wait etc but we can figure out a way to make it better than it is now which has issues.

40 years ago? What city were you in? I have had athletes in pretty much every western European country, Japan, Australia, Canada. All of them have much better healthcare systems than the US. Great quality and those governments spend less per person than the US. Never been an issue to see a specialist next day or get a surgery as soon as needed. If you need to see a doctor, you just go.

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While we all attended and post on a forum of a government run University

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Taranto. And the US does not have government run healthcare so you can’t compare.

My doc here has the paper sheet on the office exam table. Same
with the kids pediatrician exam table.

Agree, but I’m still shocked when I see State Appropriations only
make up 19% of the schools budget today. Long gone are the day
when we paid $11/semester hour ! Today the students are burdened
With crushing debt on graduation.

Does give one a reason to pause and reflect on what system was better.

I agree they can’t compare because of that reason! Much better in Europe. Btw, most may not know but wealthy people in most European countries have private insurance too. It isn’t completely run by the government, just mainly government funded. They just make sure that all citizens have access to quality healthcare, then the rich ones get more or better coverage if they want to spend money on it. I believe they still spend less for that extra coverage than what Americans pay for basic coverage.

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The schools just raise tuition and pass it onto the students to make up the lack of government support. Rick Perry deregulated tuition in Texas around 2003 to off set the budget bc we had a recession and he didn’t want to raise taxes. He found the easiest way that no one would notice for yrs in slashing higher ed funding. This played out later across the nation in La. etc bc no one notices right away but it is a tax increase if you have kids in college.

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We’ve been a hybrid Socialism + Capitalism nation for a century, for better or worse.

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