Socialist Healthcare vs International Police?

[Neo]

If the government can afford to spend billions of dollars on the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan, on the CIA and other intelligence services, on propping up NATO, on defending foreign seas, and on foreign aide to many third world countries, why is it that all Americans cannot have free health care?

[zboy1]

Good point, Neo! One of my family members had cancer and recently passed away, but can anyone guess the total cost for the care? How about 150,000 U.S. dollars, lol.

Can anyone say oligopoly and corporatism run amuck?

Yet, we can spend trillions on useless wars abroad? Please. ...

[Yohan]

If the government can afford to spend billions of dollars on the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan, on the CIA and other intelligence services, on propping up NATO, on defending foreign seas, and on foreign aide to many third world countries, why is it that all Americans cannot have free health care?

I think, it has much to do with the fact that US-citizens are very divided about this issue - out of various arguments.

Some are against free medical care and prefer to pay for private insurance cover insisting to have a choice what to pay for, some others are against private insurance cover and complaining when getting old or seriously ill the private insurance will refuse to renew your contract and just kicks you out.

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This is quite different in Continental Europe and here in Japan, I do not know even one person who is against a National Health Insurance.

However it is not 'free' as a considerable amount of money will be deducted from your monthly income.

In Europe in my case it was an obligatory package, which included payments for retirement, unemployment, accident and illness.
It was expensive, but my retirement allowance is now fairly good and for life. I had some medical problems in the past, also some surgery, and all was paid by the European insurance, absolutely no problem. I never even saw a medical bill.

Now in Japan, already retired, I have to pay for obligatory Japanese National Health Insurance. Not so cheap. However it's a good system, which will never refuse to pay a huge amount of your medical bills for life if you are in any trouble with your health- regardless your age, regardless if accident or illness - even pays for dentist, even pays in case you have a medical emergency while not in Japan but somewhere aboard as a tourist.

[Ghost]

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[Shemp]

"money to be made keeping people sick" doesn't quite capture the reality, which is that there are millions of middle class voters working in the medical industrial complex. Your or the government's costs are their incomes. To make the system efficient, lots of people would have to lose their jobs or take a salary cut. And then what? It's not like any other sector can pick up the slack. Congress knows this, hence their inaction.

Also, Americans do have free healthcare once they go bankrupt. Just go to the emergency room. In the future, as automation creates an unemployment crisis, we will probably get true universal healthcare, since healthcare is one of the few ways to generate jobs that aren't subject to automation.

[Ghost]

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[Shemp]

Homeless people don't pay for their care, therefore their care is free to them. Can't squeeze money from a stone. Of course, they only get the most basic care, and then they are immediately pushed back onto the street, whereupon they get sick again.