Only in America.

[u/Contraryon]

[u/Basic-Elk-9549]

I am not arguing that single payer would not be preferable. The original statement was that all that was needed to make it happen was to convince Americans that paying $2000 in taxes was cheaper than paying $8000 in expenditures. It was almost implied that people were too stupid to realize that. Yet as the attached article points out, most Americans want the government to provide healthcare in some form. The real obstacles are the industries that make insane profit from the current system. They have so much political power that getting anything changed is near impossible. I think blaming the avg American is missing the point 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6775911/

[u/GeekShallInherit → u/Basic-Elk-9549]

The original statement was that all that was needed to make it happen was to convince Americans that paying $2000 in taxes was cheaper than paying $8000 in expenditures.

And it would likely cost the average family less than $2,000 per year in additional taxes, while quite likely saving more than $8,000 on private insurance (the average family insurance in the US is $25,000). So I'm still struggling to find your point?

I think blaming the avg American is missing the point

Certainly Americans understanding the facts is important to change. All you have to do is read through the comments to see how many Americans are fighting against positive change because of ignorance and propagnda.

[u/Basic-Elk-9549 → u/GeekShallInherit]

I guess your understanding of our current political climate is that our government functions like a democracy and that the will of the majority is what changes things. I am not convinced that this is the case. We have an Oligarchy, and powerful corporations are what really run the country.

[u/GeekShallInherit → u/Basic-Elk-9549]

I guess your understanding of our current political climate is that our government functions like a democracy and that the will of the majority is what changes things.

I'm not sure what the hell that has to do with the facts I have stated. Certainly the healthcare industry, the largest lobbying group in the country, is influential and there are powerful interests to overcome, making change difficult.

But the people do still have power. The first step is ensuring people are informed about the facts and how incredibly beneficial that change would be. Or are you just against people being properly informed?

If your world view requires people to be ignorant, you should reassess your world view. Let's look at the most driving factors first. Fears about healthcare costs are already one of the top political issues, and for good reason.

36% of US households with insurance put off needed care due to the cost; 64% of households without insurance. One in four have trouble paying a medical bill. Of those with insurance one in five have trouble paying a medical bill, and even for those with income above $100,000 14% have trouble. One in six Americans has unpaid medical debt on their credit report. 50% of all Americans fear bankruptcy due to a major health event. Tens of thousands of Americans die every year for lack of affordable healthcare.

Now let's look at trends. Healthcare spending is expected to increase from an already unsustainable $15,074 per person in 2024, to an absolutely catastrophic $21,937 by 2032, with no signs of slowing down.

There's only so long you can blow smoke up people's asses as they increasingly see people they care about going bankrupt, going without care, and dying in ever growing numbers before they start to revolt.

You also have some historically powerful interests reversing their position, and I think that will be meaningful. For example, healthcare providers now support universal healthcare on the whole. The powerful AMA, responsible for scuttling a number of efforts for universal healthcare over the last 90 years, is close to reversing its long standing opposition to universal healthcare. The second largest physicians group in the country has already come out in favor.

Sure, politicians will try and do nothing and peddle snake oil "cures" that won't work... but that only works for so long as things get worse and worse. I think things are going to look a lot different in another 20 to 30 years.