There is still a coverage gap, it's small and shrinking.
Using that as some sort of explanation for why people are dying on the roads in the US compared to the rest of the world explains nothing.
For those that prefer numbers, nonelderly Americans were ~17% uninsured pre-ACA, ~11% uninsured post-ACA:
https://www.kff.org/uninsured/issue-brief/key-facts-about-th...
- 25% are eligible for Medicaid/CHIP, but have not enrolled.
- 38% are eligible for a health insurance subsidy, but have not utilized it.
- 28% are ineligible for financial assistance (i.e. Illegal immigrants or folks who can afford a plan for less than 8.5% of their income)
- 7.5% are "in the coverage gap", (not sure what that means).
https://www.kff.org/uninsured/issue-brief/a-closer-look-at-t...
[0]: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/05/upshot/the-real-reason-th...
It’s a problem that can be legislated away with public scrutiny and effort. This kind of history is irrelevant to next steps; it’s not like advocating for a literal holocaust. The figurative identity of a business owner is not my problem.
Just expressing where my indifference for others lies. Keep people alive, figuratively kill coddled businesses.
That being said, this kind of history is absolutely not irrelevant to next steps. It is incredibly relevant since the situation we're in now is a direct consequence of a previous set of heavy handed restrictions introduced by the government.
Refusal to avoid the outcome of more serious health issues by putting funding into it is because that funding has to go elsewhere to make next quarters numbers.
I’m not going to debate this. I’ve been in the room with big tech leaders and political figures who speak in no uncertain terms behind closed doors; their goal is to keep power and their methods are designed intentionally to make people believe their power is immutable truth. We are indeed demanded of by normal humans with extremely narcissistic personalities and an innumerate public that cheers them on.
An ER doctor friend of mine at a large hospital in NYC told me after I had a medical emergency that you should always leave your wallet at home and leave a fake name and address if you’re uninsured. They’ll give you care and then you won’t have to pay. He said as a doctor he’s going to save you no matter what.
They make them wait for hours, make people who are in very bad shape fill out paperwork before treatment and then charge astronomical and seemingly totally made up prices. The US definitely has the spirit "I have got mine, I deserve it and fuck everybody else"
Prescription drugs are a whole other thing. Those high prices are because you will die if you don't get the drugs. That's a relatively easy fix, and there is no excuse for our government not taking action on that.
Remind me, what was that thing Obama did?
Being socially behind the rest of the world by 30-ish years is about right for the US.
That it was a tenable Republican plan in 1990 and a tyrannical expansion of government to Republicans by 2010 just highlights the social regression.
If there was anyone powerful and omniscient enough to design all of these second- and third-order effects, I don’t think there enough competence in the world to see the design implemented across hundreds of millions of people in a way that produces the desired effects.
IMO much more likely it’s a mindless vicious circle of human nature.
It’s emergent behavior given your relative experience to this point. It is not “net new” behavior for the species.
My point was that there is no Star Chamber where people do PowerPoints about the importance of making people work so much they don’t have energy to protest.
Best said in Cube: there is no conspiracy. Big brother is not watching you. It’s a headless blunder operating under the illusion of a master plan.
Not saying I agree with him 100% but Varoufakis makes similar claims after being in the room with IMF’s leadership.
I’ve had meetings with rich heirs wanting to compete with Facebook because “there are more than enough idiots to make us richer too. Zuckerberg can’t have them all! room laughs.”
There are conversations that take place all the time you’re not invited to.
It’s so subtle and hyper normalized we don’t see it.
But you’re right, I should not have said there’s no Star Chamber. I should have said, there are a multitude of Star Chambers and their little conspiracies have no bearing on the actual world. They do believe it themselves.
Ok, I’m done here.