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| Warren Says Health Insurance Workers Who Lose Job Under Medicare for All Could Work in Auto Insurance |
| 2019-11-03 |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #25 ^ exactly. The German-Swiss model is a fine one: public backstop / catastrophic insurance for all, supplemented by optional private insurance that is both high quality, well regulated and non-profit. But large sectors of American society no longer have the North European Protestant ethos -- personal responsibility, frugality, common provision, willingness to save and forgo current pleasures for larger, deferred benefits etc. |
| Posted by: Lex 2019-11-03 22:51 |
| #24 This is a complicated issue. That's why it's not something to debate in an election campaign. I'm pretty sure that many Americans have good health insurance. I definitely prefer mine. It's private btw. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2019-11-03 21:56 |
| #23 EC, the American health care system is not broken. That's just the media telling everyone it is. Most people have employer paid health insurance (or mostly paid). Deductibles are low, service is good, out of pocket is reasonable. There is a group of people who don't have insurance for one reason or another, thrifty, lazy, broke, who are at risk for financial calamity. But, they will receive health care. It's against the law for public hospitals to refuse service to needy patients. Higher insurance rates subsidize the few who don't have insurance. State and county governments have excellent programs for the needy. I know for a fact that the government insurance in many cases is more generous than private. Obama care was billed as the plan that would cover everyone, it has not. There is still 10% or so of the population that does not have health insurance, but it is their choice. They still will receive very good care. |
| Posted by: Thimp Clusort2035 2019-11-03 20:47 |
| #22 ^ 20% VAT pays for it. Which means much less spending money for the average Hans, as a 20% VAT is about the most regressive tax structure imaginable. If Warren, Sanders et al. were honest, they would tell Americans that we can absolutely have the European healthcare system provided that Americans are willing to have less stuff, less disposable income, and less equality in our tax system. Nothing wrong with the above but it would be a MASSIVE change that would at best cut both ways for many low income people and would make millions of others significantly worse off. Again, if you're going to be honest about how to fund it -- there simply is no way to do so without a nationwide double-digit VAT - then come forth and describe your proposal honestly. But honesty is what's sorely lacking here. |
| Posted by: Lex 2019-11-03 20:30 |
| #21 No system is perfect. But the European ones won't ruin you. I pay around 550 Euros per month. This covers my wife and our youngest daughter who is studying (used to cover all children). Some little extra costs but nothing to write home about. If I had to spend a month or two in a hospital, no extra costs. Free choice of doctors. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2019-11-03 20:14 |
| #20 ^ While I can't speak to any of the others, my personal experience with the Swiss medical system was unimpressive when compared to ours. And not particularly affordable, either. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2019-11-03 19:52 |
| #19 It seems like France, The Netherlands, Switzerland or Germany do quite well. France is supposed to have the best working system worldwide. The healthcare debate in the U.S. is really puzzling for most Europeans, even the most conservative, free market ones. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2019-11-03 19:33 |
| #18 The federal government runs two healthcare systems, the Veterans Administration and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. They just can't abide by the notion that since they can't make those work, they shouldn't be in charge of everyone's. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2019-11-03 19:21 |
| #17 I think the radicals in the Democratic Party are actually a minority, a loud one, of course. And Biden still has the support of Afro Americans. Not Warren, not Harris, not Sanders. He'll sweep the South. My take is that Iowa (and New Hampshire) won't decide this. Biden could need an excellent moderate female VP. He also knows that the Rust Belt will decide the elections. So Klobuchar would fit the picture. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2019-11-03 19:20 |
| #16 This might all change but currently I (still) put my money on Biden. An interesting question! Biden is probably the closet thing the Dems have to an actual candidate. However, in addition to the baggage of being Biden, he is an old white guy - everything the current Democratic Party is demonizing. Warren is a Vagino-American and self-proclaimed minority which gives her a pass on pretty much everything. Plus, she is not a white guy which gets her extra points. Probably scares the money people though. Not sure who I would bet on at this point for the Dem candidate. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2019-11-03 19:11 |
| #15 Well I'm not ignorant. I follow US politics very closely. U.S. healthcare system is broken. A simple x ray costs three times more than in Germany (I know this from own experience). People go broke over a short stay in a hospital. But Warren's plan is not the way to fix it, and it's not something you can debate easily. Also has no chance in Congress. Even moderate Democrats are aware of that fact. Biden is mediocre, for sure, but not a socialist scare. His numbers have suffered in the last months but there are still polls that have him at 30%. And EVERY poll gives him a healthy lead over Trump. This might all change but currently I (still) put my money on Biden. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2019-11-03 18:52 |
| #14 #12 - Cred? Lost. Stck to what you are familiar with. There's a REALLY GOOD reason I rarely comment on German politics? I'm ignorant |
| Posted by: Frank G 2019-11-03 17:54 |
| #13 I think she's lost in the white man world. A harsh and brutal world where feelings are mocked, Science and Reason run rampant, and Arithmetic always wins in the end. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2019-11-03 17:38 |
| #12 I think Warren just blew it. This stuff is way over her head. Biden will probably sleep his way to the presidency. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2019-11-03 17:03 |
| #11 I think she's lost in the white man world. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-11-03 16:45 |
| #10 I don't think she really wants to win... Or is counting on Trump being impeached. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2019-11-03 16:37 |
| #9 Actually people who would vote for socialism smile when you say socialism will make their lives worse. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2019-11-03 13:30 |
| #8 The recession won't hit until Democrats win back the WH. That's a given. |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2019-11-03 12:54 |
| #7 One problem these folks have is that they really need a recession in the next 12 months to beat Trump. But if there really were a recession (and we are kind of overdue for one) they themselves would lose money and maybe even their phony-baloney jobs. So the current strategy is basically to talk up a recession while piling into the market. The evergreen headline is "Stock Market Hits New High As Recession Looms." |
| Posted by: Matt 2019-11-03 12:48 |
| #6 They'll be plenty of "jobs" in the bureaucracy of rationing American care (except to the politically connected) |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2019-11-03 12:41 |
| #5 This is why such idiots can't win. Any politician who makes statements like ; 'People who will lose jobs in my Presidency...' , is not even a vote bringer of credit, let alone a leader. |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2019-11-03 12:23 |
| #4 ^And Middle Class must become poor - otherwise some of them will try to push their way up. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-11-03 12:21 |
| #3 /\ The poor and destitute must remain poor and destitute, otherwise the 'party of free-stuff' loses relevancy. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2019-11-03 12:19 |
| #2 Or they could learn to code. Democratic thinking: "Hey look, unemployment under Trump is at a 50-year low. Let's shut down some major employers." |
| Posted by: Matt 2019-11-03 12:17 |
| #1 OH that will work. What an idiot. |
| Posted by: chris 2019-11-03 11:05 |