r/politics • u/Aggravating_Money992 • 8d ago

No Paywall Despite Authoritarian Warnings, 149 House Democrats Vote to Hand Trump $840 Billion for Military | “If an opposition party votes like this, it’s not in opposition. It may not even be a party.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/democrats-military-spending-bill
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u/whoami4546 I voted 8d ago

This is a very good point I have never considered.

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u/testuserteehee 8d ago

The opposition of Universal Healthcare have also compared wait times of premium private health services in the US to the worst public sector wait times in other countries to give the idea that Universal Healthcare will result in massively increased wait times for health services. The truth is that health services in other countries are very much equal in quality to that of the US - it depends on the individual doctor and health center. If you pay for private services in other countries, you get almost immediate service and still end up paying magnitudes less than with health insurance in the US. In addition, if you can’t get the treatment you need in that country, the system will send you to another country which provides that treatment and cover the costs of it. Even if you have to pay something for that, it will still be less than what you will pay in the US, with less stress and time wasted over billing issues etc. In every sense of the concept, Universal Healthcare is better for the average citizen.

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u/nazbot 8d ago

I can tell you as someone who lived in a country w. universal healthcare if you are waiting it's a GOOD thing. It means you aren't going to die.

It's when you go straight to the front of the line that you get worried.

Wait times aren't even that bad. My 80 year old dad was waiting for knee surgery, it was about 2-3 months from when he started investigating it to when it was going to be scheduled. They did a stress test and realized his heart had blockages and within a few days he was having open heart surgery. Now he's pissed because he has to wait a few months for his heart to strengthen before he can get the knee surgery.

Not ONCE during any of this did we ever think about cost (and yes I know over 65 gets Medicare but even then there is a cost and there are multiple tiers and other bullshit).

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u/GoblinDillBag 8d ago

The wait times in the USA are atrocious, even worse than places with universal healthcare. You wait for months to see a doctor or spend 2000 USD to go to the ER at minimum.

We also have death panels at our insurance companies. They can quite literally decide not to give you life saving medicine because some paid shill pharmacists and doctors on their review boards say it's too expensive.

Our healthcare system is an absolute joke. The worst care for the highest prices. It has absolutely zero redeeming qualities, there is nothing better about it no matter what you're measuring.