augustus

Tell me a socialized system that works please WITHOUT rationing and waiting lists. And what is the "potential for overall savings and cost efficiencies"? Obamacare was supposed to solve that. It did restrict Medicare payouts by coding all ailments, but raised costs with mandates and other provisions. Obamacare never identified whatever drives the costs. You already cited the profits of insurance companies but that is a small part of the nearly $5 trillion in healthcare spending. Where else is the savings going to come from with a socialized system? There will be rationing and waiting lists like the rest of the world and the politicians know it. They also know raising taxes by trillions of dollars will never fly. PLEASE TELL ME A SOCIALIZED SYSTEM THAT WORKS. WHERE THERE IS NO RATIONING, WAITING LISTS OR DRUG SHORTAGES. You all keep clamoring for this and yet CANNOT CITE A SYSTEM IN THE WORLD that delivers like the US system. A system where even elective surgery can be scheduled within 2 weeks in most cases. IF SOCIALIZED HEALTHCARE IS SO MARVELOUS WHY CAN'T ANYONE WHO SUPPORTS IT CITE SUCH A SYSTEM AS AN EXAMPLE??????????????????????????

Again, you don't get it. The private insurance market pays for most of the healthcare spending in this country, either through direct payments or cost sharing. Without that the Federal Government would collapse. There would have to be massive tax increases and rationing. A $2 trillion saving over 10 years won't cut it, since US healthcare spending is approaching $5 trillion per year. It's the big, bad capitalist system that pays for most of this.

The profit generated by the insurance companies are a fraction of the over $4 trillion healthcare spending in this country. I'm game for an excess profits tax, but it won't solve the problems.

The rest of the world hasn't figured out jack. The rest of the world deals with it by rationing. Again, you don't get it. "Medicare for All" would bankrupt the Federal Government, as the nearly $5 trillion healthcare spending would overwhelm it. And "Medicare Advantage" is NOT a supplemental plan. You have a choice between traditional Medicare or Medicare Advantage.

Exactly. Most of the world is a horror story with their healthcare systems. Waiting lists so long the disease consumes you first. What these whiners want is to pay NOTHING into the system and get services on demand.

Which is nearly everyone. People with nothing can still get charity care. No one is denied cancer care or has to wait months or years for a hip replacement. The American whiners here expect unlimited health care services at NO COST TO THEM. That is their problem. They will spend tens of thousands on a car, or expensive vacation or clothes but a co-pay is an outrage to them.

Too funny. Medicare reimbursements don't cover the cost of services. Medicaid is much worse. That is why private insurance costs are so high, to make up for the shortfall. It's called "cost sharing". Without the private insurance market, Medicare and Medicaid would collapse the Federal Government. As I said, people who don't know how the system works.......

Absolute nonsense. A person on Medicaid can get the same treatments as a billionaire.

You don't become angry enough to kill someone unless you have been marinated in this idea of victimhood. Mangione somehow had a back injury so it was the fault of the health care system that he wasn't immediately cured of all pain and disability. He's delusional, but sane. A stone cold killer revered by some here for his ideologies, good looks and physique. Our society is adrift in a sea of madness without a rudder.

You must not get around much. Even with its shortcomings, the US healthcare system is the most advanced in the world. When people like you figure out how to supply the gold standard of healthcare at an inexpensive cost, then all the problems will be solved. People like you and the other complainers here presume to know the answer, without having a clue as to how things work.

Who the hell would let their 13-year-old daughter attend a concert or after parties ALONE??

Agreed. And another big problem is our healthcare system is overused. Overweight? Demand Wegovy, which is very expensive. Depressed? Demand unlimited psychiatric sessions. However, to constantly hold up Canada and European countries a model for good care is ridiculous. The British healthcare system is a mess. In France, anyone with money goes outside the national system to a "concierge doctor". Canadian patients needing a knee replacement come across the border to Buffalo, Detroit and Chicago rather than wait months or years in agony. Copying some other country's medical system is not the answer. Not saying there aren’t positives but the endless evocation of other systems by people who don’t understand and are too lazy to in response to our system is an eternal meme that never stops repeating itself.

Back surgery is dangerous and usually doesn't work. I think many surgeons talk people into it for the money.

This guy's issue was not the result of a claim denial, where he would have been better off if the claim was denied. More than half of back surgeries are failures. His family said he lost it after his surgery, which worsened the pain. So why would he go after the health insurance CEO instead of the surgeon or hospital that did the surgery? If he was from a wealthy family, it seems he wouldn't have any insurance or money issues. His whole privileged life is now unbearable because of his own choice.

Mangione had been working as a data engineer at TrueCar Inc for the past four years, according to his LinkedIn profile. TrueCar is a car pricing and digital retailing website based in Santa Monica, California. Moderator’s note: message has been edited.

To all of his supporters...your boy is just going to love the rest of his existence in prison. Luigi Mangione is clearly a sociopath of the first order, and from his pictures — fitness model stuff — he looks like a raving narcissist.

$40k a year boarding school followed by an Ivy League college. Per usual, the most radical anti-capitalists are self absorbed rich kids. A complete a-hole.

Waiting 6 months or more in Canada for a hip or knee replacement is very painful. Being assigned a PCP can take years. Edit: No political reference

The comments somehow justifying the murder of Mr Thompson are beyond horrible. Wishing harm on anyone is a descent into barbarism and inhumanity. Albert Einstein was spot-on when he said, "Violence always attracts men of low morality." People need look no further than the bankrupt socialist system in Canada, where it takes approximately 6 months (if you're lucky) for a knee or hip replacement and often longer.

Not particularly. Medicaid pays for the indigent. And hospitals are required to treat all patients. Of course it's better to have money. But we don't have rationing here like in Canada. Some of the best hospitals in NYC are filled with indigents.

This is a complicated issue. Medicare Advantage Programs are made to control payouts, and it has the wholehearted approval of the Federal Government. They entice you with gift cards and free this and free that. But an expensive stay at rehab will often be denied but usually approved on appeal. On the other hand, many of the claims are wrought with fraud. Then Obamacare coded every possible ailment and assigned the number of days someone could stay in a hospital and what they will pay. That is what Medicare will pay, according to the coded ailment. It's often not the doctors or insurance companies' decision. This is why hospital bed capacity has shrunk so much in the past few years and hospitals have closed left and right. If you have an employer provided policy, that policy may not pay what you think they should pay. Then there are sky-high legal malpractice premiums which are passed on and are a severe burden on the system. The rest of the world deals with this by rationing care and not allowing lawsuits. Be careful what you wish for.

Maybe. People do react differently. But still.

Holy smoke. That is legal terminology. This may have something to do with an Insider Trading case under investigation involving the CEO and some other high-level executives.

Saw on the news that the wife was called up and asked to comment. The wife's first reaction is not hanging up the phone in grieving disbelief when called for comment, but mentioning a possible motive. “Basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage?” she said. Who does an interview with the press 2 hours after their spouse was murdered? Doesn't pass the sniff test.

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully your doctor can come up with a treatment plan.