https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way ... re-company

If this pulls 950k people out of the current system, how will that affect the state of the nation's Healthcare system?

If they create their own network of Healthcare facilities, will they be able to purchase drugs and other products on the world market rather than be limited to buying in-country?

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This is the way to go. "ForProfit" insurance companies like BCBS need to go. They serve no purpose. Just a needless middleman.

Trump opening up Obama's mess to private Groups and associations is a true Godsend.

As a self-employed individual, I am getting really, truly ripped off by the bullshit premiums and shitty coverage they are currently offering. . .

I pay more each month for my stupid Blue Cross Policy than most people in semi-affluent neighborhoods pay for their mortgage, and yet the coverage absolutely sucks compared to what it used to be. An entry-level teacher has better coverage and choices.

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I like thinking big. . . If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.
-Donald J. Trump, BPE

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... ium=social



I've always said that's the problem with healthcare in America: there's just too much of it!

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We spend huge money keeping people alive for weeks or months that would not get the same treatment in other countries.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Just in time to take care of all the people buying Elon Musk's flamethrowers!

Will colonoscopies be Prime Eligible?

I spent an hour last weekend going through my father's insurance claims to figure out what if any he had to save for tax season. He had a colonoscopy last year. The surgical center charged $4800 for about 2.5 hours total including check-in, the actual procedure, and a recovery room. Medicare paid less than $500, and his supplemental BCBS plaid about $100. The GI doc and the anesthesiologist got paid in similar proportions, and the total insurance outlay was about $1300.

This ratio, quite simply, is insane. I see so many claims paid out at 10 cents on the list price.

Even with Medicare, my dad pays $375/month for supplemental insurance and prescription cost defraying insurance.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

And this is what's being blamed for part of the 500+ fall on the Dow

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Do no harm my ass

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

It really doesn't matter what the list price is on things though. The bill wouldn't be any different.

Much of it comes from just how poor the payout is from Medicaid.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Did Buffet mention if his secretary pays more in premiums than he does ?

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

seems accurate given the biggest drops are in the health care field. It will be interesting to see how this new health system does as it certainly represents a disruption to the current market.

Honestly this is probably what we need to lower prices.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

So private businesses can do some good for healthcare?

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Elections have consequences.

They would do much better today if the government didn't ban the import of most drugs from outside the US. That's the quickest way you could lower health care costs.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Yeah, but that will never happen.

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You understand why drug prices are lower in other countries, right? I work in the industry and prices in other countries are essentially set by the government.

The pharmaceutical industry would never allow the importation of drugs into the US.

Aren’t many of the drugs you want to import actually manufactured here?

Anyway, what saves more money? Billionaires starting this up, Rick killing off all the old sick people or importing drugs? I’m still going to go with malpractice reform.

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Elections have consequences.

The Senate came within 1 vote of it last fall (shockingly not a party line vote with a lots of R's and Ds voting either way). You can thank Sen Booker for killing it though. I can't wait for that to bite his ass in the 2020 Primary. It's no shock he is one of the largest recipients in campaign funds from the pharmaceutical industry.

Once again, if we got government out of the way, it would be an open market and US pharmaceuticals would have to actually compete instead of the current situation where they have a government protected monopoly.

Also the FDA really needs to lower the barriers for generics. There is no reason a 100% re-creation of a drug with an expired patent that is completely identical in every physical way should have to go through such a strenuous approval process.

To add to this point, Martin Skreli could only pull off his dickish move because anyone else wanting to compete with him would have to go through an expensive FDA approval process, even though the patent had long expired.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

I would certainly say tort reform needs to occur.

If you want to lower health care costs, here is a basic roadmap

1: open pharma to foreign competition and imports, also generics for expired patent drugs should not require FDA hurdles when they are chemically the same product.

2: tort reform

3: lower the barrier to entry for new docs. There is a choke-hold on the number of new doctors each year based upon the limited number of residencies offered.

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“When I walked in this morning, and saw the flag was at half mast, I thought 'alright another bureaucrat ate it.'" - Ron Swanson

Sounds good. The bargaining power of a single payer would do a lot to lower costs as well.

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That's a lazy answer that'd do little to lessen costs.

The opacity of health care pricing is the largest driver of spending. The incentives are all screwed up. There little reward to be wise with your health care dollars for insured persons. Once you've blown past your deductible...time for a feeding frenzy.

The 2nd part of your statement would be far more impactful. The FDA's current processes create monopolies and disincentivize competition.

its amazing to me how the politicians have sat on their hands for so fucking long that private industry is starting to do their work for them... for free.

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the world will always the world. your entire existence is defined by your response.

You don’t think the costs of healthcare to include drugs has anything to do with bad lawsuits and/or outrageous payouts on credible ones.

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Elections have consequences.

Big pharma and the patent system has its problems for sure. But it really is more complex than just disallowing patent protection and importing drugs.

It may not be apparent to everyday people but it takes many years and tons of money to get drugs to market. And the other way companies act now is to raid and buy up/merge other companies for their pipeline drugs/patents.

There is abuse in how patents get extended forever for frivolous reasons but some protections are necessary.

As for why some drugs are cheaper elsewhere it has to do with foreign governmental policies as well as differs patent law in various countries. I don’t think you can simply say import generic whatever from India without other problems.

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Elections have consequences.

You can make small changes to healthcare that make things cheaper. No major improvement will be made, whether it is single payer, public option, or what we have now if we don't figure out what our priorities are for healthcare.

You can't make it significantly cheaper without making it slower, or smaller. Many people have more healthcare bills in the last 6 months of their lives than they did during the rest of their lives. We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars extending the life of someone for a year with little chance of long term survival. We do more tests than needed to try and get more information to make sure something isn't missed. We let people choose to not have insurance that could afford it and then we let them still get medical care for emergencies.

To be even more blunt though, our healthcare system is world class, if you have decent insurance. It's expensive but so is a lot of things here compared to most of the world. It isn't as good if you aren't well off but that's mostly because of the government and how they treat programs like Medicaid while telling us they are the solution.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

A very small portion.

Well I for one will agree that government isn't the one to fix it. I also think it is far too complex to be treated as some singular entity that requires an all encompassing "comprehensive" plan/fix.

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Elections have consequences.

The greatest thing the government could do is create a public option that is like the post office that is legally not allowed to subsidize the coverage. Medicaid can be under the same program and obviously the government is always going to have to pay for that but that would be the same income requirements.

Though, maybe Amazon will one day will buy the federal government and we don't have to worry about it.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!