Quote:
Originally Posted by Libertine
The Dutch system would work for you, then. Insurance agencies are required to have a "basic" plan (which covers all normal medical care, but excludes things like acupuncture) to which they have to admit everyone who applies, regardless of existing medical conditions, etc. People with low incomes receive money from the government to compensate them for the costs, but getting insurance is mandatory.
The few homeless people who might not get insurance receive medical care nonetheless, and their costs are written off, but nobody apart from them goes without insurance.
Meanwhile, the government pays for some of the most expensive parts of treatment (eg multi-month stays in revalidation centers), so health insurance agencies can insure people without running too much risk.
The best part: private insurance agencies actually compete to provide us with cheap health insurance that will admit everyone.
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The dutch system sounds fucking awesome! The part I bolded really speaks why healthcare in America suffers greatly: there is no competition here. In nearly every businesses you see the prices drop... shit, look how much HD DVD players have dropped in a year (from 1k down to under $500). Competition breeds lower prices; you don't ever see this happening in the medical industry. The prices never seem to go down but only up. If that's not price-fixing I don't know what is.
A government-ran or at least a government-sponsored healthcare system would force the private industry to compete directly with them, driving the costs of healthcare down while simultaneously increasing the quality of said healthcare. It's a win-win situation for EVERYONE, tax payers included. Healthcare in the US would finally become preventive and improving our population's health for decades to come.