World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[MrPopo]

Fox has a vested interest in the media as a whole being a respected and trusted institution. They're smart enough to know that things will ebb and flow between conservative and liberal in terms of who holds the reigns of power, and while many of us don't agree with many of their opinions they are an important part of the national discourse, same as the other major networks.

[marurun]

Yes, this is a meme, yes it is exaggerated, but I don't care. I think it still has something important to say. Leaks are a problem, but I consider them less of a problem when the government is practicing secrecy in ways that are harmful to the populace. Government transparency is critical, and even when the government must keep secrets, there must be robust and appropriate oversight.

[Ack]

Well I thought it was funny.

[Pulsar_t]

What's next? The earth being flat? Nothing would surprise me at this point. Nothing.

[marurun]

CBO analysis of Trumpcare is in. Very bad. CBO isn't perfect, but it is the closest thing we have to a neutral third party when it comes to this level of detail in fiscal analysis. They have lots of data and smart people. You know, unlike congress.

[Ack]

Yeah, I'm wondering if that CBO assessment will be the end of this round. It sounded like almost nobody was happy with this bill except Paul Ryan.

[prfsnl_gmr]

Yeah, I'm wondering if that CBO assessment will be the end of this round. It sounded like almost nobody was happy with this bill except Paul Ryan.

I had to chuckle a bit when people started referring to it as the Republican Insurance Plan (a/k/a RIP). I sincerely hope that they can do something, but IMO, all of the things they could do to actually improve our system of medical care would inch us closer to socialized medicine (and I don't think our current congress wants to go there).

EDIT: If I were designing a "free market" approach to our health care system, I would: (1) make the insurance market more competitive by allowing insurers to market and sell across state lines; (2) lower the cost of care by allowing Medicare and Medicaid to negotiate prices; (3) force insurers to compete with the federal government by allowing consumers to purchase Medicare and Medicaid; (4) increase the supply of medical workers by lowering barriers to entry to the medical profession (e.g., by subsidizing medical and nursing school tuition, decreasing medical profession admission requirements, etc.); (5) lower the cost of care by decreasing "back room" expenses (e.g., subsidizing upgrades to the claims submission technology, creating a federally administered medical malpractice trust fund, etc.). There would undoubtedly be a strong reaction to some aspects of my plan - and since it would cut into their profits so much, both the insurance industry and medical professionals would fight it tooth-and-nail - but I think all of these measures would help.

[marurun]

According to USA Today, the CBO's ACA predictions were more accurate than the other projections offered by the Obama administration itself and other groups, such as the RAND Corp. And with the additional data from the ACA to date, it means the CBO's "Trumpcare" estimates are likely to be even more accurate.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/poli ... /99157846/

[marurun]

EDIT: If I were designing a "free market" approach to our health care system, I would: (1) make the insurance market more competitive by allowing insurers to market and sell across state lines;

This first point is a red herring. It changes very little. Basically, plans are often local for a reason. You have distinct pools of applicants who are more likely to share characteristics. Further, selling across state lines would actually make dealing with various hospital and care networks more difficult. Furthermore, insurance companies like having a fragmented corporate structure. It means if one particular state or region of the US has some kind of crisis, the insurer can bankrupt one sub-company and default on obligations without hurting the rest of the insurance network.

Essentially, neither insurers nor health care providers particularly want insurance plans sold across state lines because there's very little, if any, benefit.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/upsh ... .html?_r=0

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapse ... 3d9eeb1a62

[Ack]

It's worth noting that three states already allow this practice(Georgia, Maine, and Massachusetts I believe), but there's been very little movement by the industry on it.