China has a larger population and land area than the United States and they have universal healthcare. There’s nothing special about the US that makes universal healthcare more difficult to implement except the entrenched special interests that lobby the government to prevent it.
I think you’re just lashing out at me because you’re unable to explain why you think diversity makes it harder to implement universal healthcare, but what do I know. I haven’t studied the legal system in China.
Ok, I’m not American, I’m Australian (getting that out of the way up front).
But… But, we are saturated with US culture, American social norms and politics. I could say with a large degree of confidence that an average Australian (or European) could pass a pop quiz on the United States probably better than an average American. This isn’t a boast, it’s a fact of life due to the relative size of our comparative social footprints.
So when I say that the US isn’t one country, but many, I’m not being facetious. Your federal system consists of a bunch of little fifedoms comparable with Germany in the 18th century. On the face of it, yes, you are, of course, ‘United’. In reality you guys seem fundamentally Balkanised.
Culturally, socially, religiously, and very much politically, you might as well have hard borders.
The only barrier to implementing universal healthcare in the United States is the health insurance industry, the corruption it relies on, and the racism that the corrupt politicians use to turn people against their own welfare.
Country size has nothing to do with it; it’s all in the lobbies.
Much of what’s wrong with American healthcare could be fixed with a few pieces of federal legislation:
Any medical practitioner who deals with one health insurance provider has to deal with all of them. Likewise, all insurances have to accept bills from all licensed medical practitioners.
There are limits to how much can be billed for a certain procedure within the health insurance system.
There are limits to how much a health insurance is allowed to charge for the basic plan relative to income.
A health insurance’s basic plan must cover at least a certain set of medical procedures (but is allowed to cover more). These include all regular life-saving procedures and a range of preventative ones (e.g. semiannual dental checkups).
Health insurances are not allowed to deny basic coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
Deductibles are banned.
Copays are regulated.
This gets rid of the “out of network” bullshit and basically turns the American healthcare system into an approximation of the German one. The German system is one of the most expensive in the world and generally considered to be of middling quality compared to other wealthy nations but it’s half as expensive per capita as the American one; based on free enterprise (with a fuckton of regulations, which is normal for the medical sector); and wildly more effective than the American system, which doesn’t even rank among other developed nations.
The only reason the USA don’t have a better healthcare system is that lobbyists spend an unholy amount of money to ensure it doesn’t and lawmakers are willing to do whatever the highest bidder tells them to. Size and diversity have nothing to do with it.
I really want a system like this but it is SO HARD to do in a large and diverse country.
Europe managed it. Every country in it has it.
And they are double the population of the US.
Size is not an issue what so ever.
Sure but Europe isn’t one country lol
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China has a larger population and land area than the United States and they have universal healthcare. There’s nothing special about the US that makes universal healthcare more difficult to implement except the entrenched special interests that lobby the government to prevent it.
They are also significantly more culturally homogenous and they’re the oldest established civilization on the planet, so that sounds about right.
I don’t understand what any of that has to do with healthcare.
Oh, ok. Might want to study the legal system and how laws are passed. It’ll make sense after that.
If it still doesn’t, I can’t help sorry.
I think you’re just lashing out at me because you’re unable to explain why you think diversity makes it harder to implement universal healthcare, but what do I know. I haven’t studied the legal system in China.
Sure!
And the US is?
Where are you going with this? Please continue. I’m curious.
Ok, thanks for your question.
Ok, I’m not American, I’m Australian (getting that out of the way up front).
But… But, we are saturated with US culture, American social norms and politics. I could say with a large degree of confidence that an average Australian (or European) could pass a pop quiz on the United States probably better than an average American. This isn’t a boast, it’s a fact of life due to the relative size of our comparative social footprints.
So when I say that the US isn’t one country, but many, I’m not being facetious. Your federal system consists of a bunch of little fifedoms comparable with Germany in the 18th century. On the face of it, yes, you are, of course, ‘United’. In reality you guys seem fundamentally Balkanised.
Culturally, socially, religiously, and very much politically, you might as well have hard borders.
That’s what my casual one-liner meant to convey.
Makes sense, and I could definitely see how someone outside the US could develop that perspective. Thank you.
It’s pretty accurate but a bit more nuanced than how you described it!
If course, you are also right to say that. Every generalisation is wrong.
The larger and more diverse the insurance pool, the cheaper it becomes per capita.
You’re literally just repeating propaganda.
You don’t think it’s more difficult to get legislation through in a large country, vs a small one? Curious. Super curious.
The only barrier to implementing universal healthcare in the United States is the health insurance industry, the corruption it relies on, and the racism that the corrupt politicians use to turn people against their own welfare.
Oh ok clearly it’s not worth doing, let’s fund genocide instead! Fuck off with this bullshit.
Brazil did it ages ago and it is just as large and diverse as the US. I’m not saying it’s easy but it is absolutely doable.
Pff. I feel like if you understood just how big Texas is, you’d realise your mistake.
Don’t worry, someone will be along to tell us soon enough…
Country size has nothing to do with it; it’s all in the lobbies.
Much of what’s wrong with American healthcare could be fixed with a few pieces of federal legislation:
This gets rid of the “out of network” bullshit and basically turns the American healthcare system into an approximation of the German one. The German system is one of the most expensive in the world and generally considered to be of middling quality compared to other wealthy nations but it’s half as expensive per capita as the American one; based on free enterprise (with a fuckton of regulations, which is normal for the medical sector); and wildly more effective than the American system, which doesn’t even rank among other developed nations.
The only reason the USA don’t have a better healthcare system is that lobbyists spend an unholy amount of money to ensure it doesn’t and lawmakers are willing to do whatever the highest bidder tells them to. Size and diversity have nothing to do with it.
These are great ideas!
Diverse???
Race/Ethnicity? Religion? Language? Cultures? Politics? The US is a bit short on diversity in some of these.
Almost as hard as the way we do it now in the US