How do you fix a healthcare system when you don't have one?

[shockey80]

Seniors have a healthcare system, Medicare. The poor have a healthcare system, Medicaid. The rest of us have a pile of incoherent odds and ends that have been patched together over the decades and we call it a healthcare system.

It's like the old George Carlin joke. If you have a pile of odds and ends sitting on a table, all of them fall off except one, what do you have left, an odd or an end. Given the opportunity the American people would argue for years whether or not it's an odd or an end left on the table. Many would argue it's an odd on the table because they were told all even's are evil socialists.

In my opinion, what's left on the table is Medicare, Medicare for all. No one has presented to us a better idea. Many Democrats running for office are talking about adding more odds and ends to what we have now. That won't work. We need to put in place a national healthcare system. Coverage from birth to death. Healthcare you cannot lose if you are laid off, fired or your company moves to china.

We cannot fear Medicare for all. We cannot fear paying for Medicare for all because you cannot put a price tag on peace of mind. That's what is lacking in America, that's what is causing the people to be angry, frustrated, depressed, the lack of peace of mind. Imagine waking up everyday for the rest of your life and never thinking or worrying about having healthcare coverage. I am willing to pay for that peace of mind.

[Magoo48]

1. What we have now is gangster-capitalism, extortion compatible, health insurance facsimile.

[shockey80]

2. Lol! That about sums it up.

[Newest Reality]

3. Well put!

May I add vulture capitalism, (the gangster's feast on what's left of the carcass) and disaster capitalism, (the profit from the mess that has been made and raking it in all the way down, pennies on the dollar).

They come as a set with the game board and the cards are played according to the rules.

[Magoo48]

5. Sort of an unholy trinity...

[mjvpi]

4. Bingo

What is being talked about with MFA is simply(understatement) adjusting what we already, as a country, spend on healthcare. It’s in the range of 19.8% of GDP. $3.45 trillion ish per year, achieving only fractional coverage and statistically average results when viewing the population as a whole.

I want to live in that healthcare world that you’re last paragraph describes.

[Wounded Bear]

6. We don't have a healthcare "system"...

I've been saying this for years. We don't have a healthcare system, we have a for-profit healthcare industry, whose primary goal is not patient care driven at all. It is wholly profit and shareholder value driven.

VA Medical is also a "system" as such, though the corporatists are trying to take it over and move it to more of a "cooperative system" with more private providers, which is pretty scary. Under normal circumstances, this could make sense, as many veterans live long distances from the nearest VA facility. But with the current crew in charge, there is no one to implement something like that properly.