I'm Trying! But I'm surrounded by tinfoil hat wearing, glen beck watching, George Nory listening, Ayn Rand reading, McCarthiest Repulitard azzholes. You can't fly like an eagle when you run with turkeys.
I know mate, it's as hard as hell, I go back home every Christmas and I put on 3 kilos without even trying. My kids are born and bred Japanese but ask them what they like about Australia and it's the food first, second and third. They gorge themselves ( I let them, they're on holidays too) but there's no doubt the Western diet is for the most part pretty crap. Here, I go to the supermarket and the fish, fruit and veg etc section is 5 times the size of the frozen food, Froot Loops section. They aren't scared of a drink or a smoke here but for the most part they look after themselves. It's worth investigating.
I just want to point out that Japanese healthcare is cheap, but it's also losing money. There was a big PBS special where they examined different counties and how their healthcare systems work. I have to say that the one thing that amazes me about the "death panel" scare is that currently, if you have insurance, a company determines whether it is good for the bottom line to keep you alive....they have a strong incentive to deny care.
Indeed. The decision to go to war in Iraq was very open. All subsidies to all interest groups are very open decisions. You learn about it after the fact in the media.
A smoker getting cancer is not totally unexpected. Breaking a bone going downhill on a bike is not totally unexpected (and I do DH). I know very well that if I would not have (almost) total coverage by the gvt I would have to save money in case I hurt myself practicing MTB (and I do anyway because I don't want to have to wait months for heart surgery or cancer treatment if this happens). I am conscious of the risks and that this would probably mean higher insurance premiums if I had to have my own private insurance.
No wonder it is losing money like here. And because it is losing money:
You get what you pay for.
Seriously? Are you actively trying not to find out?
Yeah totally.
You point out that 14k were denied care in Japan....you do realize we have around 48 million uninsured, right? We currently have universal healthcare, the question is whether everyone pays into it or not...you can go to any emergency room in the US and regardless of your ability to pay they are required to treat you. If we fail to solve the issues with healthcare now, we will see the collapse of our emergency care system. Already hospitals are closing ERs because they are a losing proposition. The local hospital here has long waits and is getting stiffed on many of the bills from the ER. If they choose to close their ER, we wouldn't have an ER in Salem. Free market innovation isn't going to solve that issue.
@kidwoo: Yes but what connection do you make with that quoted text of mine?
And I did not imply "innovation" when I mentioned "free market". What I meant is individuals freely and voluntarily engaging in a transaction without gvt interferences. To be able to achieve that we need to have choices, not less. Government restrict the choices we have.
Healthcare.
The high costs of health care here are because most of it gets funded by for profit companies. Not only are profits kept and held but cost cutting measures often lead to things like litigation, subsequent insurance costs, and then of course dealing with illness once it gets way the hell out of control. It doesn't have jack to do with government regulation.
Medicare (16% of the federal budget) and Medicaid are federal programs funded by the federal gvt.
Nope.
One example:
I would say this is a service but it's unimportant. But I don't see where it is a classic example of market failure when it has so much government interferences. If the gvt has his imprints on the healthcare services, and it has, then it cannot be a free market.
You just said 'nope' that profits aren't kept.
The only thing strange is just how far that ronald reagan action figure must be lodged up your heinie.
Hey, easy there pal, not everyone who's had a head injury sticks a Reagan action figure up their ass.
Yeah but you stuck him there to suffocate him, not become part of you.
You totally missed the joke...
