this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2024
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[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago (3 children)

People who receive long-term support services are among the government’s most expensive beneficiaries. Although they comprise 6% of all people enrolled in Medicaid, they account for 34% of federal and state Medicaid spending, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Because it's a huge grift where lots of companies never visit the patient and charge Medicaid a shit ton of money...

The solution isn't paying those companies even more money to do nothing.

The solution is fixing our entire healthcare system.

But for some reason Harris will only do things the majority of voters want when it's against the party platform. 50+% of Americans wanting universal healthcare isn't enough of a reason for her to support universal healthcare...

https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2020/05/29/most-americans-support-universal-health-care-can-it-actually-happen

[–] InverseParallax@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You really want universal Healthcare?

Suspend Medicare for 5 years, the boomers hate socialized medicine already, let's respect their wishes.

Suddenly, you'll have a functioning national polity capable of rational discourse again.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (4 children)

Bruh....

The first time it was part of a presidential platform was Teddy Roosevelt in 1912.

If all it took was people dying off, we'd have gotten it by now. The problem is we keep trying, getting a tiny crumb, and then get stalled another 20 years by our own party because we just got something.

Affordable care act was 2010, so we might get another crumb when Harris is getting ready to leave her second term. That way the progressive in the primary would get under cut on healthcare against the moderate because they'll frame asking for more as being against what we just got.

I just legitimately don't understand why more people don't see it, it's blatantly obvious on a long enough timeline.

The only way we get universal healthcare is if we refuse to shut up about it.

I already get it. I'm a disabled vet, but it's just insane to me hearing what the majority of Americans have to deal with

[–] No_Eponym@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 month ago

I legitimately don't understand why more people don't see it.

Propaganda and brainwashing. It's powerful, especially when you have other things to think about and can't take the time to consider and diffuse it. The vested interests in the current system are savvy and willing to spend to protect their profits.

[–] jhymesba@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I suspect Harris looked at this poll or something like it. Americans don't know what they want, but they do know what they don't want, and that's too much change at one time. Which is a shame because Obama ran on Hope and Change. But by the time he took office, the gap between people who said that they thought the Government should take responsibility for quality healthcare and those who say that it's none of the Government's business shrank from like +40 to almost 0, and only in a matter of 2 years. Then he passed the ACA, and that number went negative. Between Progressives leaving him high and dry and moderates saying he went to far, Obama just got creamed on this. And I'm sure Harris wants to serve more than one term, especially if the Trumpster Fire is still kicking around in 2028!

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

By the same token she needs Pennsylvania and 58% of registered voters want to ban fracking because it negatively effects them....

Like you said, the people know what they don't work, but both candidate have explicitly said they won't ban fracking.

If Harris is doing what you're saying and just trying to win, why not ban fracking?

[–] jhymesba@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Couple of ideas here:

  • Registered Voters != Likely Voters. That's like Polling 101 right there and part of why this isn't black and white.
  • She probably thinks she'll lose more of her coalition by banning fracking than she'll retain.
  • Cold, hard, cash is always a possible answer.

Affordable care act was 2010,
a tiny crumb, and then get stalled

I wouldn't call ACA a tiny crumb, but most of the cookie. My mom didn't live to see it, but had she lived long enough, ACA would have literally saved her life. It's exactly what she needed for the preceeding twenty years and didn't get.

If all it took was people dying off, we’d have gotten it by now.

Agreed. What happened at Charlottesville in 2017 and on Jan 6, 2021 shows that our opponents include many younger folks. This isn't going to just die out over time.

I already get it. I’m a disabled vet

Thank you for your service. But I wouldn't call that universal in the same way that the ACA is not universal (unless the donut hole gets filled).

[–] InverseParallax@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Affordable care act was 2010, so we might get another crumb when Harris is getting ready to leave her second term. That way the progressive in the primary would get under cut on healthcare against the moderate because they’ll frame asking for more as being against what we just got.

Jesus, the ACA took literally every penny of political capital Obama had, and he walked in with more than any Dem president in decades.

If he hadn't wasted his and our time on the ACA we could have passed something useful, like campaign finance reform, though that would have been dismantled too, you still have to work on it, CU is killing this country.

You have a 5th grader's appreciation of politics.

Healthcare needs to be fixed in a completely different way, the insurers need to be staked through the heart, and the providers not far after, otherwise nothing you do will matter, there's simply too much money involved.

[–] abff08f4813c@j4vcdedmiokf56h3ho4t62mlku.srv.us 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

In fact it wasn't quite enough in the end as he actually was focused on two major arcs:

The ACA and the DREAM act. The ACA made it but the DREAM act failed (and we ended up with DACA instead).

I don't want to give up on the dreamers, but OTOH, instead of focusing on them perhaps he could have had more successful results spending that effort and capital on your plan? Though of course hindsight is 20/20.

[–] InverseParallax@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

No, the only chance to get campaign financing reform was to make that the only press, 100%, and go all in on one roll.

The thing is: afterwards he would have had capital left, but after the ACA he just made more political hostility, that's what happens when your opposition party can spend a whole term fundraising and getting lobbied because you're touching a political third rail.

If he'd managed serious campaign finance and lobbying reform, he could have used that win to neutralize his opposition and land either the ACA or the dreamers.

Actually maybe he could do campaign finance and the dreamers, the problem is for the ACA he would have been constantly threatened and bargained with the dreamers, and those bargains would have to be cashed in anyway to close the deal, ACA was such a political battleground it forced everyone to mobilize for war footing.

The GOP were desperate for a rallying cry against Obama and he gave it to them on a platter.

Ah, yes that makes sense. Either ACA or DREAM would have burned thru too much on it's own, so that would have had to be the first one and then ACA/DREAM as the second act.

Because it’s a huge grift where lots of companies never visit the patient and charge Medicaid a shit ton of money…

Worth pointing out that this already illegal. That's actually Medicare Fraud, and how it's illegal (and how these things get enforced) is explained in https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNProducts/Downloads/Fraud-Abuse-MLN4649244.pdf

I've done work for a healthcare adjacent company and this was required training. So that part isn't really broken (in the sense that the system allows and permits it or even protects this), it may just be that we need to spend more money on enforcement of the existing laws.

The solution isn’t paying those companies even more money to do nothing.

Agreed.

The solution is fixing our entire healthcare system.

As above, enforcing the existing laws after better detection of violations should be enough.

when it’s against the party platform.
But for some reason Harris will only do things the majority of voters want

Uh... yeah. Glad she's listening to the majority of voters instead of a platform that doesn't speak to them.

[–] dharmacurious 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

100% in agreement that we need universal healthcare. I'm one of those people that feel like medicare for all is already the compromise.

But I just want to mention that that's not all of what those in home care programs are. There's also a program (different names in different states, but normally called Choices) that allows for people to choose a care giver themselves, and essentially act as their employer for their care. That's how my mom is able to stay in her home, by employing me to care for her. It's not a perfect system, and it's rife with fucked up situations, but it's something that does need way more funding, and would also benefit from a universal healthcare system

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

100% in agreement that we need universal healthcare. I’m one of those people that feel like medicare for all is already the compromise.

Medicare sucks tho, doesn't cover a lot, and requires huge copays.

None of which is necessary, and just adds overhead to the cost requiring higher costs for less care.

I feel like there's just no reason not to have a national healthcare service that's worth the tradeoff. People aren't just going to line up for unnecessary procedures to exploit it, and once we get past the I ritual rush from everyone not being able to afford treatment, people would just act like in every other developed nation and get lifetime checkups so issues are caught and addressed early which both raise chance of survival and lowers cost of treatment.

Why aren't you for that if every other option results in worse average care for more average costs?

[–] jhymesba@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

So...if you have criticisms of how Medicare is run, then how, pray tell, do you expect the government to run a universal healthcare program? Maybe we should be pressuring people to fix Medicare. Because if we can't fix Medicare, we can't run a Universal Healthcare program. Besides. Imagine the backlash of being told you have to give up your platinum tier health insurance plan from those who like their platinum tier health insurance plans? Oh wait. You don't have to.. That already happened and creamed Obama in 2010 and 2014.

As an aside, my favourite idea for fixing Medicare is to replace all government employee health insurance programs with Medicare coverage, and a mandate that the only healthcare you can receive is healthcare from Medicare, and if it's available to you as a Government employee, it must be available to anyone else who uses Medicare. I figure that'll change some tunes REAL fucking quick! Same with mandating Government employees, especially legislators and judges, use Social Security for their retirement plans. In my field, we call this 'eating your own dogfood.'

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world -2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Why are you typing long replies to multiple of my comments within 15 minutes of each other on a 2 day old thread?

Do you really want to get in multiple simultaneous conversations with me?

Edit:

Jesus, you're still going, people don't have the energy for this, they're just going to block you

[–] jhymesba@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Oh, so you don't want to actually have the discussion you were prompting. OK! Good to know.

Dear reader, to answer this person's question, I point this out to point out why you shouldn't not vote for Harris just because she didn't give you exactly what you want. One of two people will be President next year. One's named Kamala Harris. The other is named Donald Trump. NOTHING will change this fact.

We can talk about how we can push Harris to be a better Democrat. In fact, we should. That's how you get things done in a large nation like tthe USA, filled with people whose livelihoods will be impacted by your proposed changes! That's what I was pointing out. This user didn't want to have that conversation, but feel free and post here if you want to, and maybe, think about how wise it is to keep Harris out of the White House when the only other option is a tin-pot Twitler with delusions of grandeur.

[–] jhymesba@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago

Reply to edit: Then block me. I'm not going to stop replying to your nonsense, so you might as well just block me. ;)

[–] dharmacurious 1 points 1 month ago

Is that "you" in the final sentence asking why I, dharmacurious, am against it, or a more general "why is anyone" against it?

I am absolutely for it. Like I said, I feel like medicare for all is already the compromise. I want a full NHS, with a complete and total ban on private insurance and healthcare. Including dental and everything else.

Medicare ... doesn’t cover a lot, and requires huge copays.

Worth asking why. The answer is that it's not being funded well enough.

None of which is necessary,

Agreed.

and just adds overhead to the cost requiring higher costs for less care.

But this wouldn't be the case if it were properly funded.

I feel like there’s just no reason not to have a national healthcare service that’s worth the tradeoff.

But that's just it - if Medicare for all were properly funded, then wouldn't it be worth the tradeoff?

Whats the alternative NHS going to look like, if it ends up with the same funding problem as Medicare? (Spoiler alert - it'll look just like Medicare.)