Comment by sbov | Hacker News Reader

Comment by sbov | Hacker News Reader

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Not true, because people actually hate insurance companies. The best propaganda is by the hospitals because no one ever seems to complain much about them.

There's been a lot of revealing reporting over the past decade but people don't seem to care: the price of a procedure in two different hospitals in the same city can vary by 10x because they literally pull prices they charge from their asses. They tend to justify this by saying "no one ever pays that price".

But when I got a bill for my wife's surgery that included 15k for 1 hour in a recovery room, another 25k for 1 hour in a surgery room, and 9k for an overnight stay (on top of the 20k from the surgeon, 3k from the anesthesiologist, and 3-5k from random doctors we saw for a few seconds) those words sure as shit were not reassuring.

All my past attempts to get an idea of what something might cost me, even when I knew insurance wouldn't cover it, have failed. It takes days worth of time on the phone only to get the wrong answer. One even told me that I only get the cash price if I don't have insurance even if my insurance won't cover it - and I must have insurance because its illegal to not have insurance so I can't get the cash price. What the fuck man?

Hospitals can fuck off. I have no idea why they don't get more blame in this mess.

I think it's something in the American mindset. It's been said before, but Americans think of themselves as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires" when voting (hence why they consistently vote in the interests of the rich - everyone thinks they'll benefit from those tax cuts when they win the lottery/sell their startup/etc).

Same situation here; "health care costs are for those sick losers. I'm not going to get sick, so it doesn't matter to me how much it costs, and I don't want to pay more tax to reduce healthcare costs for those losers".

I exaggerate, but it does seem like there's something like this going on...

I agree with you in part, but in my opinion propaganda and lobbying are the problem because this is the source of the disconnect. When people got increased protections from the ACA, nobody complained. The insurance and hospitals deliberately shitcanned the healthcare marketplace and MOST pepole don't put much thought into why the mandated insurance became unconscionably expensinve, they just thought "Obamacare is worhtless" because that's what they were told.

I don't think it's specifically an American thing to avoid much thought about becoming really ill. It's an uncomfortable subject.

It is partly a cultural thing - a kind of cult of narcissism.

But those attitudes are carefully cultivated by the media. They don't just happen.

Congress and the Senate are full of corrupt leeches, and both parties are equally guilty.

Votes make no difference. Corporate money buys political careers, and it pays for both sides.

There are a few exceptions, cultivated to maintain the appearance of representative democracy, but they're rarely - if ever - allowed anywhere near policy.

> Congress and the Senate are full of corrupt leeches, and both parties are equally guilty.

No, the Democrats and Republicans are not the same.

Both parties are equally guilty of being more worried about holding on to the reigns of power than serving the public.

No, I reject that equivalency.

One party is suppressing the vote and constantly sabotaging the workings of the government to retain power.

Those aren't the equivalencies I'm asserting. My position is that members of both parties expend far too much energy working on re-election fundraising versus working for the people. That's the equivalency I'm asserting.

Both parties, then, are elected (generally. Republicans tend to depend on the electoral college to win).

Both parties eat food.

Both parties drink water.

What's the point of this equivalency? I identify a moved goalpost. Your initial post was "both parties are equal." We are far from there, down here.

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