well in regards to your coworker i would have disagree. working in healthcare, IMO we will probably never go to a universal health care system model in the US. too many industries and jobs (mine included) are dependent on the current healthcare model.
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fewaopi, I agree with your first sentence, in that I disagree with the co-worker. I think the rest of your post needs more reflection and/or explanation by you.
The tail is wagging the dog here. Justification for an argument should not be "too many people depend on the current model". If a system is broken, it should be fixed. You said yourself it would be more moral. If it's a better way of doing things, let's do it. People will adjust.
Example - I'm a CPA in favor of total tax reform. Our system is overcomplicated, and downright ridiculous. Shit look at the link I posted in this thread as evidence. I will use the code as it's written and create a strategy that works best for me, but the tax code needs simplification even if it means I would receive a smaller paycheck. I would adapt. I would find another way to earn a living.
If your argument is "it won't happen because lobbyist will always control Washington" then I think I agree. But that's not really what you said.
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oh when i meant decline in spending i meant decline in government spending in healthcare. healthcare excesses are being trimmed off a bit and reimbursement rates for physicians, dentists, pharmacists are all declining tightening the job markets for those fields a bit but also freezing salaries a bit. healthcare is definitely not as lucrative a field compared to what it was, still good just not like before. the ACA despite many complaints actually makes good provisions like moving to electronic health records (EHR), forcing hospitals to do CPOE and EHR and giving incentives for it, Medicare mandating all diabetics be on ACEI/ARB based on high quality evidence those classes reduce diabetic kidney disease rates and progression, forcing hospitals to pick up the tab if a heart failure patient is readmitted to hospital w/in 30 days after discharge so hospitals cannot give poor quality of care so they can readmit the patient and keep rebilling Medicare/Medicaid/Uncle Sam (yes there's a lot of dirty healthcare admins and HCPs). a doctor on rotation in a big hospital told me that when we treat the patient we have to think 50% of the time actual treatment and 50% about trying to make money off the patient. that's unfortunately the cold hard reality of a private health care system motivated by profit, costs go up to deliver care and so on...it's a clear conflict of interest but Republicans and many people just don't care and vote against their own interests it boggles me...kay rant done.
i agree if a system is broken it should be fixed, only it won't because lobbyists will for the foreseeable future always control washington. many voters are also healthcare employees and depend on the unique one of a kind "privatized" healthcare model we currently have. not just us but many single payer universal health care systems depend on us for drug discovery and price controls and our private healthcare model. i did mean to include that but forgot. sometime inefficiency is good as it creates jobs and doing things w/no goal in sight like going to war can create jobs if a large sector of the economy is reliant on war. i wouldn't mind making less for a better system but the vast majority will not be so generous. i don't mind paying taxes for taxes keep a civilized society that includes giving affordable healthcare to citizens, it's just how it's being spent that bothers me a lot.