Could the United States afoord to NOT have medicare/medicaid?
 

We would likely be thrown into a depression if Medicare ended tomorrow.

The US would be better off if all medical care were free market.

Short run, it would hurt. Long run, Americans would be better off.

fixed

The whole American medical system is rank insanity. Here in Korea things aren't perfect but the total health care spending (as a percentage of GDP) here is lower than American governmental health care spending and wait times for pretty much anything are shorter than America (for comparison purposes, Korea's system is a lot like Canada's but with better cost controls, people going to the doctor very often which helps with preventative medicine, much much much shorter wait times and very short doctor visits, which is the main downside of the Korean system)

Short run, it would hurt. Long run, wealthy Americans would be better off. As it is now, the present system is unsustainable. So your "choices" are to fix the system now or have no choice but to give up the system later.

Having Canada style healthcare is doubling down on a losing hand. You'll pay more for worse care, you'll see less, not more technology, your doctors and nurses will be paid less, you'll have longer waiting lists.

As it is now, the American system is superior in both access and care, even for those who aren't rich.

Wow!

Sounds way better than what we currently have. I just don't know if it is wise to spend almost a quarter of our federal budget on our broke health care system. I would rather spend the same amount on preventative care for EVERY american instead of just normal care for the old. I know that over spending like we do now isn't wise.

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Stop being an idiot. Or do you think of the market provision of food as "plutocratic"?

MrFun would have to stop posting entirely to stop being an idiot. When was the last time he posted a thread and you thought "boy, this looks intelligent!"

glass houses etc.

Your post that I "fixed" for you, was in response to Medicare, not food distribution.

If by free market it is meant free of government influence, control, or intervention...

Food has been the subject of government intervention and management since before the nanny state. Even before the King was the state.

They spend less on healthcare because it isn't as available. For instance: The congo spends substantially less on healthcare than we do. I'd much rather have ours.

It seems pretty clear that the european healthcare system is basically lower cost due to rationing, which implies that their "savings" are actually just arbitrarily reduced availability. This is not a defense of their system, it is a damnation.

There's very little rationing in the US healthcare system.

1. Your point is factually inaccurate. Insurance companies can't deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions, thanks to Obamacare.

2. Your point does nothing to prove that rationing in the US healthcare system is widespread.

Do you only deal in absolutes? The distortions in the market for food are far smaller than in the market for health care in the US. Moreover, I don't see many people yelling for direct government provision of food.

No, but the enormous number of people without any form of health insurance might.

Many of those people are young, healthy individuals that don't want health insurance. That will also be solved by Obamacare, of course, as those individuals will be forced to purchase health insurance or face a penalty.

Just wondering... When do we have to purchase health insurance? I was uninsurable from the time I was 18. Now I guess I have to pay for insurance that is never going to do me any good?

Is there an exception for people living outside the US, or am I going to be extradited and given AIDS for not having health insurance?

Thanks Drake http://www.discussworldissues.com/im...ons/icon14.gif

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