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This cant be said enough... When i had a doctor come to my door asking if i had any masks to donate I had some choice words for that schmuck.
@freemo I think that banning health insurance could get rid of this problem overnight.
Ya know I never considered banning health insurance... and I was about to say that sounds idiotic... but as I try to type it i just keep going "he aint wrong".. if everyone had to pay cash people would be pissed as fuck at the rip off prices and might actually demand some change.
The problem is people dont know how to fix problems. So while they would demand change that demand would be "make it free for everyone!" and then we are right back at having insurance again.
@freemo @realcaseyrollins The other problem with that is that, even with reduced prices, most people still wouldn't be able to afford emergency care. That leads us to a place where laborers end up disabled for life because they can't get a broken arm treated promptly.
Making it free up-front would likely be more economically viable than dealing with the long-term systemic effects of people not getting the care they need (similar to how we deal with homelessness and drugs: just endlessly throwing money at enforcement instead of prevention).
@freemo @realcaseyrollins So, it looks like the overall median savings for Americans is something like $8,000, but when you look at Americans under 35, it drops to $5,000.
That means half the population has less than that.
I agree that losing insurance would drive prices down (modern insurance is definitely a scam), but I think you're underestimating the number of people who would be able to handle a serious unexpected medical expense on their own... more likely, a new industry of loan sharks would crop up around the void.
Savings based on what? Insurance is there to make money, it **cant** provide any savings on average unless it operates at a loss.
Now if you are talking about the savings that is created because insurance companies negotiate lower prices, that is the very thing outlawing insurance is intending to get rid of, to make sure the prices the average person gets is the same as the "real" price insurance gets. The fact that they scam you into insurance by charing individuals astronomically higher prices is the very thing that needs to be illegal.
@freemo @realcaseyrollins No, no, I'm talking about how much the average American has saved up, i.e. how much they have in their bank account to pay for emergencies sans insurance.
> even with reduced prices, most people still wouldn't be able to afford emergency care.
What makes you say that?
@LouisIngenthron
Fair point. I would say the middle class could afford emergency care if appropriately prices (after all insurance costs more than paying out of pocket **on average)... but your right that the poor would be left in the dust and rely on charity.
@realcaseyrollins