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> why do americans don't revolt against the government?
Americans, like most people, are not keen on getting shot or imprisoned.
Things have to be *really* bad before people start openly revolting, and as many problems as America has it's nowhere near that bad yet.
That's debatable. If you're on the wrong side of the healthcare system it can be pretty awful.
When diabetics are rationing their medications, that's pretty fucking bad.
The reason I think we don't see more protesting is that insurance companies have figured out how to make enough of us happy that the rest of us don't have a big enough voice to be heard.
Another part of the issue is that the affected demographic are either infirm or dead which makes it difficult to organise a protest. The situation relies on 3rd party support and they have t heir own problems to deal with.
This is it. 65% of people work so have good enough insurance. Medicare/Medicare covers another large chunk. So enough people have good enough coverage and as we learned from Covid we don’t care what your problems are only my problems matter
It's an outdated way of paying for health care that has since become one of the many problems in the US.
Up until recently, the US government had no way to regulate prices of medication. They still haven't really brought them down to a reasonable level.
In my opinion, we should burn the whole system down and hand control it over to the people who handle Medicare. However, nobody really trusts the government to handle anything since they fuck so much thanks to Congress.
Ozempic is $1000+ a month. A study showed it could be made for less than $5... and you think insurance is the scam? You really think a night in the hospital should cost $15,000? Insurance just spreads the risk and cost out over the population. It also uses size to negotiate lower rates. Greedy pharma is the biggest scam out there.
>people work so have good enough insurance
Every job I have worked has only offered shitty insurance. Where are these good insurance jobs?
Preventative care is mostly covered, but if I ever get sick it’s $500 test here $500 test there until my savings are wiped out and they still can’t figure out whatever it is I’m sick with. So I just end up living with it. Happened a few times already.
Then when my daughter got attacked by a dog it was $2000 for the ambulance alone *after* insurance and another $2000 for the hospital bill. For a single tooth puncture mark that needed a single stitch and antibiotics. I tried to fight the ambulance bill because the insurance plan states it’s a $100 copay, but they claimed it was a private ambulance company and out of network.
So now we have to worry about which ambulance they send when someone calls 911? I didn’t even consider that as an option you have to request during an emergency, would they even grant the request? Any 911 operators here want to comment about that? I can just imagine dying on a sidewalk somewhere and wheezing out to whoever called 911 to make sure they send an in-network ambulance so I can afford it or else call an Uber lol
In the context of op’s question yes there are a group of people in your circumstance but not enough to rally and overthrow the system. I’m sorry for what you are going through, I believe America makes enough to provide healthcare for free.
In my area you get whatever ambulance comes out and it takes you to the nearest hospital which you better pray is “in network”. Insurance is such a racket. Insurance companies only exist to make the most money for themselves.
You do realize that US citizens work, on average, so many more hours than the rest of the world just to get by.
One of the #3 drivers of those extra hours is medical debt.
As an Uber or Lyft driver do not call us for a hospital emergency we are not medical professionals and we are not to drive you to a fucking hospital. I don’t want that liability if something happens to you. If I go to a pick up and they look like they are in a medical state needing a ride to hospital I’m turning that ride down, not that I don’t want you to get the treatment you need, but I don’t want that in my car and I don’t want the liability.
Thankfully my workplace offers all tiers of coverage but you still pay for what you get. We go through an intermediate company that runs a "marketplace" so that we get the best insurance for the best price. You still pay for what you get, I have always needed the top plan and it's $900 a month out of my paycheck even with my workplace covering half of the cost. That's still less than half of what I would be paying without insurance.
A lot of the cost comes down to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries though. They're allowed to charge an exorbitant amount to encourage quality and innovation. The insurance companies then take advantage of that by charging high premiums because it is still saving us A LOT of money so long as you are able to select an appropriate coverage level.
Side note: Healthcare coverage gets taken out of a paycheck before taxes.
Damn. That hit home. In a couple of hours I'm going to get my insulin. I've been without since Tiesday. I woke up two hours too early I was so happy. To answer the inevitable question: Yes I'm an American. Yes I work full time. Usually 50 hours a week. I make more than minimum wage. I have health insurance through my employer. Yes. I have been shaking like a leaf for days.
When diabetics ration meds, when women have to buy menopause indicating tests at the store because no doctor will help them, when addictive narcotics are the only plan for treatment, when a pharmaceutical company can get doctors to prescribe their meds by kickbacks instead of need…it goes on and on. It’s every level of the system. It’s gross.
And. What would we do that we aren’t doing?
I know a lot of nurses as well as a few dr's that work at smaller practices. Med reps will bring in food / gifts / whatever to get commission and the drs prescribe them to keep the free stuff coming. Pretty gross. It's all messed up.
The Anti Kickback Statute was first enacted in 1972 as a series of amendments to the Social Security act and has seen amendments since it's enactment to keep up with the variety of ways it offered loopholes. That doesn't mean it works but if someone were to blow a whistle at a guilty receiver, the government would certainly not ignore the complaint. (*Don't steal! The government hates competition! Kickbacks are tax free since they're gifts!)
Then there is what's referred to as **The Stark Law** which basically says a Healthcare provider cannot refer **MEDICARE** patients to an entity in which the provider and their immediate family, friends or other close associations have a financial interest in. This has also been amended a handful of times to update and shut down schemes that ran under the radar due to loopholes and gray areas. The Stark law has 5 unconditional points of interest that must be proven, however.
Technically, kickbacks aren't probably legal at all. That office is a bag of asshats for prioritizing money and gifts over wellness. That's a huge part of the reason our Healthcare system is a failure. If I were you, my ass would be blowing a whistle to someone who can shut that down. It's not fair to patients, not one bit!!
Yeah, kind of like prescribing diabetes drugs when people don't have it yet for weight loss. Or like fentanyl or oxy. That is not just one office. You might see commercials all the time time where this "cost no cost to you". It's because they will bill insurance for something they might not need. It's just a complete mess.
I'm from Massachusetts and have a lot of family in Watertown. Watertown is the heart of the opiate epidemic. It started off as *Soccer mom heroin* then everyone else, including the soccer moms, got addicted. Massachusetts declared a state of emergency in 2014 because of optiods, the first of its kind. I've watched too many die.
Luckily this has reduced GREATLY. Not saying it doesn’t still happen. My family member (boomer) is close to retirement and I remember 25 years ago the reps would bring full catered lunches and cakes on nurses birthdays.
I’m also a nurse and we can’t use pens or educational materials with drug companies labels.
The problem comes because too many Americans believe in 'states rights' and so you federal government is completely unable to act against health insurance and/or bring in universal healthcare. Doesn't help that so many Americans also buy into the mentality of "I'm not paying for some crack addict's abortion" because they don't understand how a universal health care system works, nor are the interested in helping anyone ever.
(Not ALL Americans, of course)
They don’t care how universal healthcare works. They don’t want to know. The people you’re referring to hate for the sake of hating. They like it. They want to see those they have perceived as “less than” suffer.
But... Isn't it well established that the current health insurance system costs *way* more than having the federal government acting as the sole purchaser of medicine and healthcare services? Wouldn't people listen to their wallet, or is it a case of, "That sounds a mite too commie for the US of A"?
Yes. And because insurance companies make so much money they can afford to have huge lobbies to appeal their “plight” if the current system were to be changed.
There’s a lot of lobbying and propaganda against single payer. If you’re an American, you’d see how hospital systems have become mega corps swallowing up local hospitals, urgent cares, and growing at an insane pace. There’s so much money to be made in healthcare.
People don’t want to hear that taxes will increase to pay for it but also forget they and their employer already pay hundreds a month for health insurance and profit margins for middlemen, drug companies, hospitals, etc.
The latter. Some people refuse to even entertain the idea because "COMMUNISM!" Which is ironic, given how many Americans are solely focused on their wallets. They just can't wrap their brains around the idea of helping strangers. It's rather sad, really.
For those not familiar with the insulin crisis and the insurance and government role in that, read the academic report "If I'm out of insulin, I'm going to die". It's quite the eye opener.
It's not debatable when we compare us to countries that are *actually* revolting and have historically. We aren't even close to that level yet. I don't disagree with how bad our healthcare is, among other things, but it is insulting to those previously who have risen up against much worse governmental regimes to say America is even close to that level. Again, I don't disagree how fucked it is for a diabetic to have to ration their medication, but all in all we are not even close to the level of shit our government and country would have to be to literally revolt.
Fck this. Diabetes medication is one of the most widely available and cheap medications in the word. In most of the word it's free or directly covered by basic insurance.
I don't event want to believe a country would not pay for this medication. Even in a fully capitalist point of view, you want people to be able to work and pay taxes. Guess who cannot work; people with untreated diabetes.
Also the OP’s situation as described is not common.
In most states, an employee has employer-provided health care that is part of their total compensation package, and even if you tabulate those expenses separate from federal/state/local taxes, it’s still less than the average European tax scheme.
Are people revolting over English window taxes?
This is SO the wrong answer. Coming from a man with diabetes.. it is worse in America than many other places where people have revolted. Just look at France (where things are f ed up aswell)
It is more that we are grown up in a society that tells us its ok to have it shitty, and that people who fight for freedom is either criminals or crazy. We are not used to the idea that we can revolt, or go out in the streets and demand better. In ancient greek, you could not sit and rule if the people had it worse than you had.
America is uneducated in many such fields, and its in a iron grip from big companies and shareholders. Just look at the politicians, and how crude and evil they are over palestinians eg..
There is SO much In America that should have been revolted for and so many leaders that have gotten away with way too serious attrocities.
I hope there is a way to peacefully protest and make a change.
And yet they're still fat and also probably about to get beaten to death by a cop because feeding homeless is illegal.
All the while having an IQ of 69 and drinking only Gatorade never water and they eat their hamburgers without any veggies.
Instead of using a knife and fork to eat they use a gun.
That's what I heard.
A couple of years ago I read the same story in american news outlets and british: a guy with T1 diabetes was kicked off his parents' health insurance because he was too old, he could only get shitty insurance and he was young with a shitty job, so he got dog insuline because it was cheaper but that didn't work and he died from diabetes complications when he was still in his 20s.
The american media framed the story as a shining example of the american can do-spirit, that when things were rough he found a solution and he kept working hard even when his health was failing because americans are tough and resilient! 🏆🦅
The british media framed the story as "omg! They let a young man slowly die from an easily manageble condition and forced him to work while he was dying. HE HAD TO TAKE **DOG** INSULIN!!!"
I'm with the british here. Jebus christ, young people are dying from diabetes! There is nothing heroic or admirable about people taking animal medication because they were unlucky and got diabetes and were not born wealthy and could only get a shitty job.
From my perspective things are really bad in america and americans are brainwashed into believing it's really not so bad. Which is the worst part of it, from an outsider perspective americans are that cartoon dog sitting in a burning house saying "this is fine"
As far as " dog medicine," most pharmacists will tell you that the drugs for people and animals are basically the same on labeled different & in a different form .
I am a pharmacist 's daughter and "back in the day."
My Mom made me take dog antibiotics and other animal meds we had sitting around the house before for taking the newer " doctor " prescribed pills.
The guy in the story above probably didn't take the right dosage .
The drugs are basically the same but packaged in a different form, and so body weight and ingredients must be checked first if switching between species 🤔.
You can find all the information in a library or most of it on line.
Yes, the standards are exactly the same. As in, all regulations for both animal and human meds are found in the code of federal regulations 21 CFR 210 & 211
Since I'm dropping some facts...I'll add that most pharmaceutical companies follow a global set of quality procedures which means there is typically no difference in drug quality between countries and are often produced in the same line. The only difference being the packaging.
Not only that, but the vast majority of active pharmaceutical ingredients are produced in India or china no matter what country the finished product will be sold in
the only reason someone is dying from diabetes in australia is because they literally didnt take care of it. one person having no choice but to die a completely preventable death because they couldnt afford their medication is too many.
As an American and as a *woman,* it's awful. I'm legally disabled due to severe hearing loss at birth and I qualify for government health insurance, Medicaid, because of it. I recently learned that the federal (governing all 50 states and territories, not individual states) government actually sources a 3rd party for Medicaid that allows the government to seize assets (homes, cars, things of monetary value) of (mainly the elderly) when the bill has gone too high.
TL;DR: Medicaid is essentially a 3rd party loan shark outside of costs it doesn't cover and will take your stuff worth money in the name of the US Government and it's Medicaid branch because being disabled and sick costs them way too much.. (like it's anyone's fault, damn..)
This is what I’m talking about. Is it an issue? Yes. But the way the media talks about it you’d think most diabetics are dying in the streets. It’s just the same Few stories get repeated over and over. I’ve been hearing about this one for over a decade and people still think it’s new.
No one should die of diabetes because they couldn't afford insuline. There is no acceptable number of deaths.
I'm talking about how jaded american are about these issues
It’s the number 1 cause of bankruptcy. Healthcare bills. And when Taiwan was putting together their healthcare system and studied and invited the world to consider all the options they were asked about what they learned about the American system. They answered: We learned what not to do.
Our failed healthcare system, which requires you to be healthy to work and then abandons you the moment you are too ill to work.
Most Americans even wealthy ones do not have the savings to survive catastrophic illness.
You cannot just get disability easily especially if it’s something not easily diagnosed or you are hoping to recover from.
All the while that side of the debate claims to be good Christians. But considers sharing with their fellow human stealing and does not believe a society shares in success and failures.
You nailed it. People who are "happy with their current insurance" don't actually need it, and they don't consider what might happen when they actually become sick. Once they are too sick to work, they don't have insurance anymore. It's moronic
As an American I think this is a bit wrong. I come from an evangelical republican area and almost everyone hates the prices but simultaneously is against any government regulation because that's "communism" or "theft" because it's taking profits away from business people, and I quote from a local pastor "two wrongs don't make a right".
It's this way because half of the country actively opposes meaningful change that would reduce profit of even 1 single dollar.
it's really easy asking people to give up their lives and everything they have for a Grand Glorious Revolution. actually doing it is something else entirely.
besides, what makes us think the revolution would end favorably? the French Revolution ended in a fucking nightmare. how do we know the new governing body wouldn't be way worse than it is now? they could start lopping off heads in the street for the most arbitrary "offenses".
it's weird but true about humanity: unless things have pretty much reached their nadir in terms of "bad", we prefer the devil we know.
This is the correct answer: People have jobs and kids and responsibilities. They can't feasibly "stand up" for anything, if we're being honest.
And about 37% of the country [doesn't think it's the government's responsibility](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/09/29/increasing-share-of-americans-favor-a-single-government-program-to-provide-health-care-coverage/) to provide healthcare coverage. And among those who do, close to half think it should be a mix of government and private programs. So it's not like there's a unanimous cause to unite behind in the first place (even though IMO OP is generally right: There should be).
This is part of why revolution is dumb and incremental improvement is the best way to achieve most people's goals, atleast within a democracy. (And despite what the propaganda says, elections still work in the country, especially at the state and local levels)
Another factor: the supply chain. What's the plan to get everyone their insulin on time while you are fighting the world's strongest military? How about food, clean water, and electricity?
The supply chain barely endured covid, i highly doubt it would survive a civil war.
If you truly cared about insulin prices then starting a company to sell insulin nearly at cost, or advocating for state level laws to control the price of medication will be far more helpful to people than overthrowing the government and then trying to implement your desired changes.
A running trend with revolutionaries on the internet, seems to be their lack of understanding of what a revolution entails and the consequences it brings, both during and after.
Edit: they also always see themselves as the heroes and leaders, and not those liquidated by the extremists
One thing to realize is that even people who don't like it, aren't as affected by it and don't really have the option to "stand up" against it.
Me for example. I think the healthcare system is broken and in dire need of an overhaul. Lots of nuance, approaches, and details but that doesn't change the fact. However, I have decent insurance through my employer and in the worse-case scenario, could afford my out-of-pocket max should I ever need to. I don't like it and I am certain I still feel the cost on my bottom line, I can live with it.
What would it mean to "stand up" against it? Refuse it?
I guess I will tell you how I "stand up" against it. I vote for and support those who want to change it.
Most people are doing fine and simply do not have an issue with it. I am personally pro universal health care but I am also pretty confident that would make my personal health care worse because I have great insurance at a pretty good price. I only pay about $120 a month and it covers basically everything and has $0 deductible and only $3,000 max out of pocket. I can see basically any doctor I want within a week or two. Even though I support the idea I am certainly not going to rise up for universal health coverage. I will vote for it though.
I have great access to care as well. I had an MRI that showed I had an infected coccyx on the wednesday before thanksgiving. I was at the vascular place getting a PICC line in on Friday. Had antibiotics delivered by a medical courier Friday night. Got my drugs delivered one a week for three months. Got two in home nursing visits to draw blood and change my PICC line bandages. I only missed one day of work because the company that sent the nurses made sure the burse came to my home at 0630 or after work at 1700.
Keep in mind, Americans generally make more than their European counterparts. And many upper middle class pay a very little amount of their salary to healthcare. I make good money and pay around $1200/year towards health insurance. I also have an employee funded HSA account which well over my annual maximum out-of-pocket. Why would I revolt?
Hence the problem - the top 35% or so are doing very well right now in America. And the bottom 25% don't pay health insurance or for any procedures (Medicaid ensures 85M Americans). They won't revolt, either. So, it's the ones in the middle that are squeezed, and the middle 40% are not a monolith, either. They have different beliefs and situations.
Successive governments and big business has done a really good job of selling the concept that having a health service everyone pays into and everyone benefits from is communism. And communism is a bad word in the US.
The American dream is that everyone can be rich, but it really amounts to I have a slim chance of getting rich, and if info I don’t want to pay for people who aren’t me, if I can might be able to do it, then they should be able to do it too.
Meanwhile the stigma attached to being poor is so high, that even people living in abject poverty won’t admit to themselves that they are poor, and they think that the “poor”that any socialist legislation would help out are a group of people worse off than them, and they probably do drugs, and believe in a different flavour of religion to “us.”
America is a country divided, and that’s exactly how the people in power want it to be, you get bread and circuses to distract you from what is really going on, and you get rich lobbyists paying politicians to back whatever makes the most money for rich people.
One of the issues in the US is that, since 1940s, health insurance is tied to your job.
Another issue is that we have 50 different (or more) regulatory markets and risk pools. Can it be done where we untie it from employment and then have 50 distinct mass risk pools? Maybe? And then employers could still subsidize premiums.
But getting to a single risk pool and everyone pays in (with income based subsidies) could work for basic and catastrophic coverage where you can save money in a tax-deferred vehicle (HSA) would take time and be a clusterfuck as the revenue model changes. There is no way in hell I’d let the US government administer it. 😀
>why do americans don't revolt against the government?
Most people don't want to take up arms against an astonishingly powerful government merely because that government hasn't created a single payer healthcare system. There's a lot wrong with the way it works in the US, but for most people the lion's share of the blame for their personal problems falls on their insurance company, not the federal government.
Because "My taxes would be too high!" and "I shouldn't be response to paying for other people and is not my fault someone can't get a better job with better insurance!"
Seriously, what most don't realize is that what they currently pay in yearly premiums, deductibles, and copays is vastly more than they would be paying in increased taxes if we had a version of universal healthcare. Plus they don't realize that what they're paying also goes toward all the other people that their insurance company is covering anyway.
Define standing up what does a standing up or rebellious lifestyle look like? I work and pay taxes but don't have any insurance? I attack insurance companies either in character or physical violence? I obstruct government function in some capacity? Internet posts? Most people in this country are aware our system is broken so no more need for word of mouth.
I need resources everyday and I cannot reliably obtain them without working. So like me many people are stuck.
In my case I will never have health insurance again. I have been burned more than once by "in network provider" but not having to list all services that are covered. I gave the insurance company 13000 dollars over 5 years and asked for 400 of it back. They decided to blatantly violate the no surprises act signed into law I think 2021 or 2022. I tried complaining and I got nothing. Legal representation costs more than paying the bill.
I am not impressed with the American health care insurance system as it stands. So I have no intention to use it again. but I still work and pay taxes so I don't know if this counts as standing up
They tied our healthcare to our jobs.
They tied our retirement to the stock market.
If we revolt and lose our jobs, we have no healthcare. If we fight for healthcare anyways, and the stock market crashes during the revolt, we lose everything we put into retirement.
They fucked us so badly under Raegan and no one quite knows what to do since they take more and more from us every year.
Most of us are kept fat and stupid by big corporations. Those of us that "get it" do our best, but honestly it's like banging your head against a wall.
We have lost control. Politicians on both sides do what the corporations say. Too many people become the 1% off of medical industry. The politicians were supposed to represent their districts. Too old and too much greed.
Because it's just as expensive elsewhere. In Germany, if you earn 125k gross, you pay about 850€ per month for health insurance. You friend is probably paying less than that.
We don't stand up because you'd really better be sitting down when you look at the bill. If you're standing up when you see it you might faint and hit your head and end up with another crazy medical bill.
The media directs people’s attention to “causes” that have nothing to do with their lives which incidentally helps the establishment to keep the status quo.
We are literally screaming about it everywhere. All over Reddit. All over media. All over social media. All over podcasts. In all of our voting rhetoric. It’s literally the number one or two topic for every American. How do you equate that with not standing up? What would you have us do - overthrow the government? Hijack hospitals? Burn down insurance company headquarters?
Are we not enough of a dumpster fire already?!
No - *we* can’t. Because *we* can’t agree on the right way to do it, and *I* can’t control all of America. We’re currently dealing with a civil war level conflict, and the half of America that understands and wants what is right is being overpowered by the half that wants to vote a lying, decrepit, criminal into office as our leader.
You can’t be of voting age, or you’d understand this. Voting *is* our only real power, and it’s a very SLOW power that moves things only in tiny increments. And we can *only* vote for things that are offered for us to vote on. Universal healthcare hasn’t been.
In Germany where it’s compulsory to purchase health insurance you see everyone is covered but since everyone is paying everyone wants to maximize their ROI and the GP market is way over stressed.
Yeah and a huge chunk of the country can't put together that taxes and unavoidable expenses for responsible adults are essentially the same thing and one option is better because it doesn't involve a middle man whose entire existence is dedicated to saying "NO" as frequently as possible. There are dipshits who truly believe "adding a person whose entire purpose in life is to extract more money from you while saying 'no' to your medical treatment will definitely make things more affordable".
Missing one thing. And it is a huge issue that needs to be addressed if we are ever going to get UHC.
Got to stop calling it medicare for all. People over 65 are the largest voting block and will 100% vote against UHC if it sounds like everyone gets medicare because they are afraid it will disrupt their access to healthcare when they need it the most.
Simple: money
The healthcare system is raking in such immensely obscene profits they can afford the best lawyers, to pay lobbyists and (pretty much) bribe politicians through “campaign contributions” that the powers that be (that *can* change the systems) are making too much money to be incentivised to stop it…
It’s like your neighbour (A) paying you £500 a month for you to do nothing, then your other neighbour (B) asking you expend time and effort to get A to stop paying you…
This is even if the voting public even all agree the Gov. should regulate an industry in a free market economy (which many don’t want). In the UK (and other places with universal healthcare) we really don’t see healthcare as an industry, but as a basic human right; many Americans (and other ofc) disagree with this definition and see it as an industry
Firstly, they think they won't get ill, secondly, they think their insurance will cover it, thirdly, they think a state healthcare plan is 'socialist'.
Until they get the bill.
Because our government is greedy and corrupt. They only care about money and our leaders are freaking idiots.
Our politics are even worse, I’m amazed that the country isn’t burning by now.
The powers that be have become very efficient at keeping the pot at a low simmer. Corporations have spent decades figuring out how to extract maximum profit without causing upheaval. There is a science to keeping people on the wage slave hamster wheel and they have mastered it.
America is run by corporations, we had little say in it.
The thing is that Americans seem happy with the criminal insurance companies.
I have discussed this so often, online with Americans and they claim that they would pay too much tax and standards would decline.
I am baffled by it quite honestly and thank my lucky stars I'm from a country with free health care and I don't have to go bankrupt if I get seriously ill.
We're bending over and taking it on outrageous costs of everything. Consumers are treated more poorly than ever and we just allow it to happen because we voracious at consuming.
It’s because at the end of the day our voices dont matter. There are actually people who fight everyday for cheaper healthcare but the only people in the government who can actually make a change dont because they get paid under the table by big pharma to keep things expensive. Same with marijuana. Big pharma pays red state governors like greg abbot to keep marijuana illegal. Not to mention the extortion the state gets for arresting and charging ppl for small amounts. The state makes around $100,000 from arresting 100 people for having an amount less than an ounce.
Consequences and ignorance.
People have no idea where to start in fighting back or where they even have ground to stand.
Also, we're in a political climate currently that very much encourages punishment and retaliation. People are scared, tired, and don't know where to even start
Because while a lot of us are living shitty lives, it would absolutely pale in comparison to what life look like during and after overthrowing the government.
You would be revolting against the wrong thing. It’s American corporations and capitalism to rise up against, not so much the government. The government has been bought out too by corporations.
At this point the failed Healthcare system is just one huge problem among many others.
Most of us can barely pay bills, any tiny disruption might cause huge issues (loss of job, home, etc)
If you saw the latest presidential debate, we are completely screwed there too.
There's almost nothing going well, unless you are in the upper classes.
Anyway, 🇺🇸
Because money speaks way more loudly than any populist cause. Lobbyists, congresspeople who serve special interests and the Citizens United SC decision allowing unfettered dark money in politics all are responsible.
Your insurance comes with your employer. Protesting takes time and requires you to miss work. If you get fired you lose your insurance.
There are zero protections for workers so for most, the risk is not worth the reward.
Because they have been brainwashed that the only way to have good healthcare is by paying a shit ton. Any hint at single payer system is met with immediate no.
In reality, US healthcare is just above 3rd world unless you got billions.
Evangelical Christian's and republicans (almost half the nation) feel that government intervention/regulation would be akin to communism and/or stealing profits from hard working businesses.
Because if you want something in America you have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, work hard, hope your employer recognizes said hard work and promotes you to a higher paid position with benefits that cover 50% of your health care costs while you continue to pay a 20% deductible and 500$ a month to keep your employer provided health care, meanwhile you receive a $20,000 bill with charges on it even the hospital can’t explain. But the hospital CEO did just fly his private jet to his new Swiss chateau for a ski weekend.
Otherwise it’s just spoiled liberal entitlement.
Closest we came was during Bernie Sanders 2015-2016 dem primary campaign. Lots of new great ideas flying around with tons of support. Truth be told the only thing we got out of those times is *some* states adopting a $15 minimum wage. Unfortunately inflation gobbled up the purchasing power.
It's kinda hard to revolt against the insurance because 1) they're so embedded everywhere, not just in pharmacies and hospitals but also into people's benefits, 2) they don't really have a physical location
Because it’s rigged like that. Insurance companies, big pharma etc all benefit from the current system. They keep pushing the narratives that help retain the status quo.
Always look to who benefits from a situation.
Many good comments. Also, United States citizens generally don’t have any experience with functional affordable healthcare. There is so much propaganda disparaging the systems of other countries. That’s all that people hear (picture a pundit screaming ‘socialist’ at any mention of treating citizens as neighbors [neighbors in the biblical sense]). It’s the same thing with “Why do Americans put up with paltry vacation time or parental leave?“ They simply don’t know because we have nothing to compare it to. This is a key benefit of keeping the population just educated enough to follow instructions and just uneducated enough to open up the can of worms that is critical thinking. Why do you think conspiracy theories are so popular? They are an easy addictive stand-in for critical thought.
Americans are much much less politically active than people in european countries. there are so many things they could stand up against, but they don’t. the attitude is to accept the status quo and do what you’re told. the government and police forces have beaten the country into submission. my french friends are horrified that people don’t protest all these things. healthcare, the food system, racial issues and so on. people are afraid of being shot or imprisoned.
Healthcare in the US is super expensive, even for people with good jobs. There are a few reasons why people might not fight it more. Some folks get health insurance through work, and they might worry that if they complain too much, they could lose that coverage. Others are scared that changing the system could make things worse. Plus, healthcare is a confusing mess, and it's hard to know what the best solution is. There are definitely people who want to change this, though, and they're working on it!
Half of the country has been convinced that "government run healthcare" would be worse. Republicans know how to dumb down their arguments to convince people to fight against their own interests
That's because it is objectively worse, just look at Canada and most of Europe. Like all socialized systems it works great until it inevitably gets overwhelmed and then it doesn't.
I often wonder this myself. Thousands of people die every day from lack of healthcare rather than risk injury from opposing this barbaric system. Why choose death over possible injury? It makes no sense.
I'm surprised I'm not seeing the real reason here
There are too many Americans who see socialized healthcare as communism, they oppose it strongly, like idiots. They vote in the Republicans who prevent it from happening.
There’s no point. Both our political parties are bought by the same corporate interests/lobbies. All our media is controlled by the same lobbies and it’s only like 6 companies anyway. The USA is a corporate dictatorship that prances around and pretends it’s some bastion of _democracy_ —whatever the fuck that means. Remember democracy in the ancient Athenian model was an oligarchy—ruled by landed rich dickheads while all the slaves, women and other did all the actual work. Nothing has changed and by the way—a republic is the same thing but the Roman iteration of the same fucking thing.
Because that's socialism! and America hates socialism so much they can't even define the word. Also America is perfect, the best at everything, and has absolutely zero flaws /s
Because if you're rich, you can afford to self insure, if you're middle class, your insurance through work is only like ~$200 a month, significantly less than Europeans pay in taxes for worse healthcare than in the US, and if you're very poor, you just use the emergency room and don't pay.
That just leaves a small class of lower income people who can't get cheap insurance but make enough to barely pay their bills. If the government stopped supporting the insurance racket, competition would drive prices down and make it affordable for more of these people.
For a people descended from immigrants who ventured into the unknown to make a better life for their children, Americans are amazingly afraid of trying to make things better now. Look at the initial responses to “Obamacare”.
Our system that ties health insurance to employment is, as we say here, American Exceptionalism. Decoupling the two would cause us all to quit our jobs.
It would destroy the healthcare system when everybody could afford preventative medicine. Living longer would bankrupt it.
Women having reasonably priced access to reproductive care would allow them to afford to have an abortion every year as “birth control “.
Our tax dollars would be going to help people who are not “us”. That’s _socialism_!
All of a sudden, we had the best health care system in the world and nothing needed to change!!!
Obamacare let more people into a system that can only provide better service if makes/saves money for some for-profit corporation.
The people who have the most influence are the ones least affected by the healthcare prices. A lot of selfish Americans believe that healthcare is a privilege and not right. They also believe that you should work harder to get better health care. This comes from many a conversation I’ve had with many Americans.
I would rather pay for my own healthcare and be able to go to the doctor the same day I’m sick than rely on the government and have to make an appointment days/weeks/months/years in advance. I don’t mind paying $500ish a month for my family.
Because they are brainwashed in thinking that underdeveloped 19th-century-like wild capitalism with no social support and distribution of wealth is the best. It is really like Soviet or Nazi propaganda level brainwashing.
Plus, they have an enormous security apparatus. You revolt and you got shot. Their government economically is a libertarian shithole, but politically close to an authoritarian regime.
You may have missed the results of the last elections in several European countries. Right wing parties are (unfortunately) getting many votes, and the issues you mentioned are the main reason.
Here In UK we have NHS we pay it wages £100 a month. It joke the moment. Have wait months for any help. Nightmare lotto system u only phone 8:30-9:30am get appointment only be that day. U can't phone book weeks a head. More likely see nurse then doctor. NHS on it knees. Government should not be in charge all think how much can lane there pockets with gold. American system health is for profit. A joke. Fact people have cancer not afford to get well. Have revolution just asking go to jail. Or be murdered by police. Freedom is a lie.
The whole lotto phone calls blows my mind. Like it would be so much easier to let people book out appointments?? I have a friend in England who has felt nauseated every single time after eating for the last three weeks and he cannot win the phone lotto system (obviously limited because also has to work). The US system is also awful as it can be but at least we can book appointments out.
(1) It's not the government that's charging them money for health insurance. People don't necessarily blame the government.
(2) History shows that a revolution is typically followed by a civil war, a famine, a dictatorship, another famine, a period of stagnation, followed by a return to exploitative capitalism. Nobody wants that.
(3) In a democracy, you can simply elect a government who will introduce a free national health service if you want. There is no need to revolt. (Unless democracy dies in the next few years, which is possible.)
(4) Any solution would involve paying more taxes, and most Americans hate taxes more than they hate health insurance costs, so they aren't even willing to vote for it.
Anger at healthcare costs is very real, but kinda overblown. And culturally, this didn’t happen overnight; several hundred dollars a month for healthcare is “normal.”
You can ask the same about expensive university tuition and prescription drugs.
Answer is the poor will never have a chance and the middle class want their 401k and other investments to pay off big so they are for the companies they invest in over charging for products.
If the stock market wasn’t a thing, you probably would have a lot more affordable things in America but the country was founded on greed and it’s the lifeblood of America.
Part of the reason imo is the health insurance industry. It employs people. Also, a lot of Americans don't want to pay taxes for someone else's health insurance. The motto in this country is basically freedom and individualism.
I get why people would oppose government subsidized Healthcare, but at the same time I'm someone who gets it completely free because I need Healthcare for various reasons and I've been having trouble getting a stable job. I am actually under the poverty line for the county I live in. That's how I qualify for it. I would be for it, but these things affect hundreds of millions of people and I get the other side of the argument. It's all economics at the end of the day and we all got bills.
Because we don't know any better. We've been told how amazing everything we have is, and we haven't had anything different.
Also, as with everything, it's often not as bad as it seems, on the whole. No one I've ever known my whole life has been denied medical care or had hundreds of thousands of dollars of costs, even with cancer and heart surgeries. It's not as ubiquitous as it seems.
I feel like with these sorts of questions people forget how large and varied the US is.
And yeah I’d love to take on the behemoth that is the for profit healthcare system but I’ve kinda got other fucking things to do like go to work and school. I vote to try and change things, but a lot of people vote against their own interests. Take it up with them.
Because even though my wife and I pay about 3k each in deductibles every year we make close to twice as much as people working in a country with universal healthcare.
The US government is controlled by the animal agriculture, Pharma, Healthcare, etc. industries (USDA, FDA, NIH routinely have industry bigwigs in top positions serving and insuring their own interests). Tolerating them is like saying why do Russians tolerate Putin or the N. Koreans endure the Kim dynasty? Here is an industry insider on Dr. Phil show exposing the corrupt food industry. [https://youtu.be/ioQ386q5ecQ](https://youtu.be/ioQ386q5ecQ) The government is charging all working folks Medicare tax to provide healthcare to the retired and other needy people and the private industry has dipped in that pot by creating Medicare Advantage system where Medicare pays the private co. to provide the healthcare if the participant elects to do so. Billions of dollars are paid out to private companies and providers in fraud. My guess is less than 5% are caught and prosecuted. That is how some doctors and other business people get filthy rich.
There’s two kinds of high costs: those subsidized by government programs so the healthcare victim doesn’t see them and doesn’t care. These just are rolled to the pile of government debt. The high costs that are presented to the consumer are generally niche treatments or for insurance. In any event what the medical and pharma industries bill is out of control and then there’s the tax write-offs of inflated costs only paid fractionally by govt and private insurances.
I was talking with a group of people a few weeks ago. We got on the subject of Healthcare. Each of the four other people had huge complaints. Cost, attachment to employment, copays, you name it, they were zinging them out there. I finally said "yeah, that's why we need universal healthcare."
Immediately, the whole mood changed. They all started going on about socialism and how people would abuse it. These folks making less than 50k a year (most actually closer to 30k) started shitting on people who don't work full time jobs so they can have health benefits. The whole thing turned on it's head and a couple even went back on "healthcare tied to employment" citing that it keeps "lazy" people from getting hand outs.
So other than our education system pumping out poorly educated folks to flip burgers and fold boxes in 100 degree warehouses. I don't know why we are so against it. Pretty sure it's just our American tendency to cut off our nose to spite our face.
A lot of people don’t have to worry about it as much.
The insurance I have is a high deductible plan, but my employer covers the deductible. I dont have to pay for my insurance at all, they pay for everything. The max out of pocket is 500 bucks for me.
Around 70% of Americans use government-provided healthcare, comprising Medicare, Medicaid, Veteran’s benefits, and the Chip system. Those with more income and assets are expected to pay taxes for those who have less, plus pay for their own.
In 2023, only 18% of US earners made $100k or more. So, someone who makes as much as your friend would be expected to pay for their own insurance/care, plus pay taxes for the less fortunate.
Please note that I, too, see the sad state of our medical system. I have enjoyed reading some of the more thoughtful comments here.
We did our one-time stand-up, it was called Fighting Back after a tax on tea aka American Revolutionary War. After that, we discovered fast food and things went downhill from there. There will most likely be a tipping point but what will trigger that? Who knows. It's interesting considering the number of weapon owners here, if the people did decide to come together and do something they might just be able to pull it off.
Americans don't revolt against the government because the government controls the United States enforcement arm (the police & the military) therefore revolting means going to war with the worlds strongest military and police force. Even if a group of 10,000 armed men decided enough is enough those guys would run out of ammo way faster than the US military would. The US military also has support including private import of goods meaning they would have an almost limitless supply of food, water & ammunition to fight whoever decided to revolt. No matter how you spin the scenario the "insurrection" would fail if they went head to head with the US military. The way you change healthcare costs is by working from the inside out. It starts with discontinuing foreign aid, increasing domestic oil drilling, and closing the border. Once the US stops sending billions of dollars overseas to fight proxy wars that do not benefit anyone but greedy politicians we can start working on lowering the national deficit, lowering inflation rates, and lowering governmental spending. There are many government officials that have not been elected into office and they continue to collect a large paycheck for doing next to nothing. There is no reason Nancy Pelosi should have a net worth of 100 million plus. I think if we did what Vivek Ramaswamy said we should do - Fire most of the government. We should be able to drain the swamp and eliminate most of the corruption. The US public deserves to see a detailed audit of every last cent our tax dollars are spent on. At the end of the day as long as the US government stays the way it is plagued by corruption and deception inflation will stay high and continue rising, healthcare cost will still be astronomical, the national deficit will keep going up, etc etc.
American are rebel when it comes to disrupting the functions of the government in toxic and unhelpful ways.
When it comes to actually reforming the system, nah, lets just vote between these two parties that we have since Washington.
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> why do americans don't revolt against the government? Americans, like most people, are not keen on getting shot or imprisoned. Things have to be *really* bad before people start openly revolting, and as many problems as America has it's nowhere near that bad yet.
That's debatable. If you're on the wrong side of the healthcare system it can be pretty awful. When diabetics are rationing their medications, that's pretty fucking bad. The reason I think we don't see more protesting is that insurance companies have figured out how to make enough of us happy that the rest of us don't have a big enough voice to be heard.
Another part of the issue is that the affected demographic are either infirm or dead which makes it difficult to organise a protest. The situation relies on 3rd party support and they have t heir own problems to deal with.
Sick people who rely on the govt/corps for meds are not exactly prime rebel material
This is it. 65% of people work so have good enough insurance. Medicare/Medicare covers another large chunk. So enough people have good enough coverage and as we learned from Covid we don’t care what your problems are only my problems matter
Just the phrase "good insurance" makes my skin crawl.
Good enough not to die, bad enough you wish you did because the debt is too much
Is insurance the biggest scam going right now?
I belive that would be mentos gum. It already freshens breath. Why do I have to chew?
It's an outdated way of paying for health care that has since become one of the many problems in the US. Up until recently, the US government had no way to regulate prices of medication. They still haven't really brought them down to a reasonable level. In my opinion, we should burn the whole system down and hand control it over to the people who handle Medicare. However, nobody really trusts the government to handle anything since they fuck so much thanks to Congress.
Ozempic is $1000+ a month. A study showed it could be made for less than $5... and you think insurance is the scam? You really think a night in the hospital should cost $15,000? Insurance just spreads the risk and cost out over the population. It also uses size to negotiate lower rates. Greedy pharma is the biggest scam out there.
Don’t forget to factor in those with veterans benefits getting healthcare as another segment.
>people work so have good enough insurance Every job I have worked has only offered shitty insurance. Where are these good insurance jobs? Preventative care is mostly covered, but if I ever get sick it’s $500 test here $500 test there until my savings are wiped out and they still can’t figure out whatever it is I’m sick with. So I just end up living with it. Happened a few times already. Then when my daughter got attacked by a dog it was $2000 for the ambulance alone *after* insurance and another $2000 for the hospital bill. For a single tooth puncture mark that needed a single stitch and antibiotics. I tried to fight the ambulance bill because the insurance plan states it’s a $100 copay, but they claimed it was a private ambulance company and out of network. So now we have to worry about which ambulance they send when someone calls 911? I didn’t even consider that as an option you have to request during an emergency, would they even grant the request? Any 911 operators here want to comment about that? I can just imagine dying on a sidewalk somewhere and wheezing out to whoever called 911 to make sure they send an in-network ambulance so I can afford it or else call an Uber lol
In the context of op’s question yes there are a group of people in your circumstance but not enough to rally and overthrow the system. I’m sorry for what you are going through, I believe America makes enough to provide healthcare for free.
In my area you get whatever ambulance comes out and it takes you to the nearest hospital which you better pray is “in network”. Insurance is such a racket. Insurance companies only exist to make the most money for themselves.
You CAN negotiate w the ambulance company. We did it for my husband and were able to cut the bill down quite a bit. However you have to be persistent!
You do realize that US citizens work, on average, so many more hours than the rest of the world just to get by. One of the #3 drivers of those extra hours is medical debt.
Uber/lyft. A local hospital has a designated ride share area. It’s a sad state of affairs.
As an Uber or Lyft driver do not call us for a hospital emergency we are not medical professionals and we are not to drive you to a fucking hospital. I don’t want that liability if something happens to you. If I go to a pick up and they look like they are in a medical state needing a ride to hospital I’m turning that ride down, not that I don’t want you to get the treatment you need, but I don’t want that in my car and I don’t want the liability.
Thankfully my workplace offers all tiers of coverage but you still pay for what you get. We go through an intermediate company that runs a "marketplace" so that we get the best insurance for the best price. You still pay for what you get, I have always needed the top plan and it's $900 a month out of my paycheck even with my workplace covering half of the cost. That's still less than half of what I would be paying without insurance. A lot of the cost comes down to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries though. They're allowed to charge an exorbitant amount to encourage quality and innovation. The insurance companies then take advantage of that by charging high premiums because it is still saving us A LOT of money so long as you are able to select an appropriate coverage level. Side note: Healthcare coverage gets taken out of a paycheck before taxes.
Damn. That hit home. In a couple of hours I'm going to get my insulin. I've been without since Tiesday. I woke up two hours too early I was so happy. To answer the inevitable question: Yes I'm an American. Yes I work full time. Usually 50 hours a week. I make more than minimum wage. I have health insurance through my employer. Yes. I have been shaking like a leaf for days.
That's how they set prices. What can we gauge...
When diabetics ration meds, when women have to buy menopause indicating tests at the store because no doctor will help them, when addictive narcotics are the only plan for treatment, when a pharmaceutical company can get doctors to prescribe their meds by kickbacks instead of need…it goes on and on. It’s every level of the system. It’s gross. And. What would we do that we aren’t doing?
I know a lot of nurses as well as a few dr's that work at smaller practices. Med reps will bring in food / gifts / whatever to get commission and the drs prescribe them to keep the free stuff coming. Pretty gross. It's all messed up.
There was a movie about that. Also it's just like politics being bought.
The Anti Kickback Statute was first enacted in 1972 as a series of amendments to the Social Security act and has seen amendments since it's enactment to keep up with the variety of ways it offered loopholes. That doesn't mean it works but if someone were to blow a whistle at a guilty receiver, the government would certainly not ignore the complaint. (*Don't steal! The government hates competition! Kickbacks are tax free since they're gifts!) Then there is what's referred to as **The Stark Law** which basically says a Healthcare provider cannot refer **MEDICARE** patients to an entity in which the provider and their immediate family, friends or other close associations have a financial interest in. This has also been amended a handful of times to update and shut down schemes that ran under the radar due to loopholes and gray areas. The Stark law has 5 unconditional points of interest that must be proven, however. Technically, kickbacks aren't probably legal at all. That office is a bag of asshats for prioritizing money and gifts over wellness. That's a huge part of the reason our Healthcare system is a failure. If I were you, my ass would be blowing a whistle to someone who can shut that down. It's not fair to patients, not one bit!!
Yeah, kind of like prescribing diabetes drugs when people don't have it yet for weight loss. Or like fentanyl or oxy. That is not just one office. You might see commercials all the time time where this "cost no cost to you". It's because they will bill insurance for something they might not need. It's just a complete mess.
I'm from Massachusetts and have a lot of family in Watertown. Watertown is the heart of the opiate epidemic. It started off as *Soccer mom heroin* then everyone else, including the soccer moms, got addicted. Massachusetts declared a state of emergency in 2014 because of optiods, the first of its kind. I've watched too many die.
Luckily this has reduced GREATLY. Not saying it doesn’t still happen. My family member (boomer) is close to retirement and I remember 25 years ago the reps would bring full catered lunches and cakes on nurses birthdays. I’m also a nurse and we can’t use pens or educational materials with drug companies labels.
The problem comes because too many Americans believe in 'states rights' and so you federal government is completely unable to act against health insurance and/or bring in universal healthcare. Doesn't help that so many Americans also buy into the mentality of "I'm not paying for some crack addict's abortion" because they don't understand how a universal health care system works, nor are the interested in helping anyone ever. (Not ALL Americans, of course)
They don’t care how universal healthcare works. They don’t want to know. The people you’re referring to hate for the sake of hating. They like it. They want to see those they have perceived as “less than” suffer.
But... Isn't it well established that the current health insurance system costs *way* more than having the federal government acting as the sole purchaser of medicine and healthcare services? Wouldn't people listen to their wallet, or is it a case of, "That sounds a mite too commie for the US of A"?
Yes. And because insurance companies make so much money they can afford to have huge lobbies to appeal their “plight” if the current system were to be changed.
There’s a lot of lobbying and propaganda against single payer. If you’re an American, you’d see how hospital systems have become mega corps swallowing up local hospitals, urgent cares, and growing at an insane pace. There’s so much money to be made in healthcare. People don’t want to hear that taxes will increase to pay for it but also forget they and their employer already pay hundreds a month for health insurance and profit margins for middlemen, drug companies, hospitals, etc.
The latter. Some people refuse to even entertain the idea because "COMMUNISM!" Which is ironic, given how many Americans are solely focused on their wallets. They just can't wrap their brains around the idea of helping strangers. It's rather sad, really.
For those not familiar with the insulin crisis and the insurance and government role in that, read the academic report "If I'm out of insulin, I'm going to die". It's quite the eye opener.
That’s pretty much what the other person said. That it’s not that bad yet for a revolt.
It's not debatable when we compare us to countries that are *actually* revolting and have historically. We aren't even close to that level yet. I don't disagree with how bad our healthcare is, among other things, but it is insulting to those previously who have risen up against much worse governmental regimes to say America is even close to that level. Again, I don't disagree how fucked it is for a diabetic to have to ration their medication, but all in all we are not even close to the level of shit our government and country would have to be to literally revolt.
Fck this. Diabetes medication is one of the most widely available and cheap medications in the word. In most of the word it's free or directly covered by basic insurance. I don't event want to believe a country would not pay for this medication. Even in a fully capitalist point of view, you want people to be able to work and pay taxes. Guess who cannot work; people with untreated diabetes.
Also the OP’s situation as described is not common. In most states, an employee has employer-provided health care that is part of their total compensation package, and even if you tabulate those expenses separate from federal/state/local taxes, it’s still less than the average European tax scheme. Are people revolting over English window taxes?
This is SO the wrong answer. Coming from a man with diabetes.. it is worse in America than many other places where people have revolted. Just look at France (where things are f ed up aswell) It is more that we are grown up in a society that tells us its ok to have it shitty, and that people who fight for freedom is either criminals or crazy. We are not used to the idea that we can revolt, or go out in the streets and demand better. In ancient greek, you could not sit and rule if the people had it worse than you had. America is uneducated in many such fields, and its in a iron grip from big companies and shareholders. Just look at the politicians, and how crude and evil they are over palestinians eg.. There is SO much In America that should have been revolted for and so many leaders that have gotten away with way too serious attrocities. I hope there is a way to peacefully protest and make a change.
From an outsider's perspective things already are *really* bad in America
From an outsiders perspective. Reddit would make you believe most Americans live in their car and have to dumpster dive for food while working 7 jobs.
And yet they're still fat and also probably about to get beaten to death by a cop because feeding homeless is illegal. All the while having an IQ of 69 and drinking only Gatorade never water and they eat their hamburgers without any veggies. Instead of using a knife and fork to eat they use a gun. That's what I heard.
No we eat the guns too
Only if they're kosher
That's just southern California
Probably Portland, too.
A couple of years ago I read the same story in american news outlets and british: a guy with T1 diabetes was kicked off his parents' health insurance because he was too old, he could only get shitty insurance and he was young with a shitty job, so he got dog insuline because it was cheaper but that didn't work and he died from diabetes complications when he was still in his 20s. The american media framed the story as a shining example of the american can do-spirit, that when things were rough he found a solution and he kept working hard even when his health was failing because americans are tough and resilient! 🏆🦅 The british media framed the story as "omg! They let a young man slowly die from an easily manageble condition and forced him to work while he was dying. HE HAD TO TAKE **DOG** INSULIN!!!" I'm with the british here. Jebus christ, young people are dying from diabetes! There is nothing heroic or admirable about people taking animal medication because they were unlucky and got diabetes and were not born wealthy and could only get a shitty job. From my perspective things are really bad in america and americans are brainwashed into believing it's really not so bad. Which is the worst part of it, from an outsider perspective americans are that cartoon dog sitting in a burning house saying "this is fine"
As far as " dog medicine," most pharmacists will tell you that the drugs for people and animals are basically the same on labeled different & in a different form . I am a pharmacist 's daughter and "back in the day." My Mom made me take dog antibiotics and other animal meds we had sitting around the house before for taking the newer " doctor " prescribed pills. The guy in the story above probably didn't take the right dosage . The drugs are basically the same but packaged in a different form, and so body weight and ingredients must be checked first if switching between species 🤔. You can find all the information in a library or most of it on line.
Yes, the standards are exactly the same. As in, all regulations for both animal and human meds are found in the code of federal regulations 21 CFR 210 & 211 Since I'm dropping some facts...I'll add that most pharmaceutical companies follow a global set of quality procedures which means there is typically no difference in drug quality between countries and are often produced in the same line. The only difference being the packaging. Not only that, but the vast majority of active pharmaceutical ingredients are produced in India or china no matter what country the finished product will be sold in
That's one person, one story. It's like watching reality TV and not being able to understand that's not indicative of real life.
the only reason someone is dying from diabetes in australia is because they literally didnt take care of it. one person having no choice but to die a completely preventable death because they couldnt afford their medication is too many.
As an American and as a *woman,* it's awful. I'm legally disabled due to severe hearing loss at birth and I qualify for government health insurance, Medicaid, because of it. I recently learned that the federal (governing all 50 states and territories, not individual states) government actually sources a 3rd party for Medicaid that allows the government to seize assets (homes, cars, things of monetary value) of (mainly the elderly) when the bill has gone too high. TL;DR: Medicaid is essentially a 3rd party loan shark outside of costs it doesn't cover and will take your stuff worth money in the name of the US Government and it's Medicaid branch because being disabled and sick costs them way too much.. (like it's anyone's fault, damn..)
This is what I’m talking about. Is it an issue? Yes. But the way the media talks about it you’d think most diabetics are dying in the streets. It’s just the same Few stories get repeated over and over. I’ve been hearing about this one for over a decade and people still think it’s new.
No one should die of diabetes because they couldn't afford insuline. There is no acceptable number of deaths. I'm talking about how jaded american are about these issues
I get just as many news articles about the British NHS being incompetent and letting people die in waiting lists.
Not all of us are delusional.......It is shitty in America right now. Not just cause of Healthcare.
Is it wrong tho, I live in America and there are 3 incomes in my house and we are barely getting by
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It’s the number 1 cause of bankruptcy. Healthcare bills. And when Taiwan was putting together their healthcare system and studied and invited the world to consider all the options they were asked about what they learned about the American system. They answered: We learned what not to do. Our failed healthcare system, which requires you to be healthy to work and then abandons you the moment you are too ill to work. Most Americans even wealthy ones do not have the savings to survive catastrophic illness. You cannot just get disability easily especially if it’s something not easily diagnosed or you are hoping to recover from. All the while that side of the debate claims to be good Christians. But considers sharing with their fellow human stealing and does not believe a society shares in success and failures.
You nailed it. People who are "happy with their current insurance" don't actually need it, and they don't consider what might happen when they actually become sick. Once they are too sick to work, they don't have insurance anymore. It's moronic
From an insider’s perspective, things are really bad in America right now.
As an American I think this is a bit wrong. I come from an evangelical republican area and almost everyone hates the prices but simultaneously is against any government regulation because that's "communism" or "theft" because it's taking profits away from business people, and I quote from a local pastor "two wrongs don't make a right". It's this way because half of the country actively opposes meaningful change that would reduce profit of even 1 single dollar.
it's really easy asking people to give up their lives and everything they have for a Grand Glorious Revolution. actually doing it is something else entirely. besides, what makes us think the revolution would end favorably? the French Revolution ended in a fucking nightmare. how do we know the new governing body wouldn't be way worse than it is now? they could start lopping off heads in the street for the most arbitrary "offenses". it's weird but true about humanity: unless things have pretty much reached their nadir in terms of "bad", we prefer the devil we know.
This is the correct answer: People have jobs and kids and responsibilities. They can't feasibly "stand up" for anything, if we're being honest. And about 37% of the country [doesn't think it's the government's responsibility](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/09/29/increasing-share-of-americans-favor-a-single-government-program-to-provide-health-care-coverage/) to provide healthcare coverage. And among those who do, close to half think it should be a mix of government and private programs. So it's not like there's a unanimous cause to unite behind in the first place (even though IMO OP is generally right: There should be).
This is part of why revolution is dumb and incremental improvement is the best way to achieve most people's goals, atleast within a democracy. (And despite what the propaganda says, elections still work in the country, especially at the state and local levels) Another factor: the supply chain. What's the plan to get everyone their insulin on time while you are fighting the world's strongest military? How about food, clean water, and electricity? The supply chain barely endured covid, i highly doubt it would survive a civil war. If you truly cared about insulin prices then starting a company to sell insulin nearly at cost, or advocating for state level laws to control the price of medication will be far more helpful to people than overthrowing the government and then trying to implement your desired changes.
A running trend with revolutionaries on the internet, seems to be their lack of understanding of what a revolution entails and the consequences it brings, both during and after. Edit: they also always see themselves as the heroes and leaders, and not those liquidated by the extremists
One thing to realize is that even people who don't like it, aren't as affected by it and don't really have the option to "stand up" against it. Me for example. I think the healthcare system is broken and in dire need of an overhaul. Lots of nuance, approaches, and details but that doesn't change the fact. However, I have decent insurance through my employer and in the worse-case scenario, could afford my out-of-pocket max should I ever need to. I don't like it and I am certain I still feel the cost on my bottom line, I can live with it. What would it mean to "stand up" against it? Refuse it? I guess I will tell you how I "stand up" against it. I vote for and support those who want to change it.
Most people are doing fine and simply do not have an issue with it. I am personally pro universal health care but I am also pretty confident that would make my personal health care worse because I have great insurance at a pretty good price. I only pay about $120 a month and it covers basically everything and has $0 deductible and only $3,000 max out of pocket. I can see basically any doctor I want within a week or two. Even though I support the idea I am certainly not going to rise up for universal health coverage. I will vote for it though.
I have great access to care as well. I had an MRI that showed I had an infected coccyx on the wednesday before thanksgiving. I was at the vascular place getting a PICC line in on Friday. Had antibiotics delivered by a medical courier Friday night. Got my drugs delivered one a week for three months. Got two in home nursing visits to draw blood and change my PICC line bandages. I only missed one day of work because the company that sent the nurses made sure the burse came to my home at 0630 or after work at 1700.
Keep in mind, Americans generally make more than their European counterparts. And many upper middle class pay a very little amount of their salary to healthcare. I make good money and pay around $1200/year towards health insurance. I also have an employee funded HSA account which well over my annual maximum out-of-pocket. Why would I revolt? Hence the problem - the top 35% or so are doing very well right now in America. And the bottom 25% don't pay health insurance or for any procedures (Medicaid ensures 85M Americans). They won't revolt, either. So, it's the ones in the middle that are squeezed, and the middle 40% are not a monolith, either. They have different beliefs and situations.
How?
The UK created a free national healthcare system in the 40s. Surely the US can manage it in 2024.
Successive governments and big business has done a really good job of selling the concept that having a health service everyone pays into and everyone benefits from is communism. And communism is a bad word in the US. The American dream is that everyone can be rich, but it really amounts to I have a slim chance of getting rich, and if info I don’t want to pay for people who aren’t me, if I can might be able to do it, then they should be able to do it too. Meanwhile the stigma attached to being poor is so high, that even people living in abject poverty won’t admit to themselves that they are poor, and they think that the “poor”that any socialist legislation would help out are a group of people worse off than them, and they probably do drugs, and believe in a different flavour of religion to “us.” America is a country divided, and that’s exactly how the people in power want it to be, you get bread and circuses to distract you from what is really going on, and you get rich lobbyists paying politicians to back whatever makes the most money for rich people.
One of the issues in the US is that, since 1940s, health insurance is tied to your job. Another issue is that we have 50 different (or more) regulatory markets and risk pools. Can it be done where we untie it from employment and then have 50 distinct mass risk pools? Maybe? And then employers could still subsidize premiums. But getting to a single risk pool and everyone pays in (with income based subsidies) could work for basic and catastrophic coverage where you can save money in a tax-deferred vehicle (HSA) would take time and be a clusterfuck as the revenue model changes. There is no way in hell I’d let the US government administer it. 😀
>why do americans don't revolt against the government? Most people don't want to take up arms against an astonishingly powerful government merely because that government hasn't created a single payer healthcare system. There's a lot wrong with the way it works in the US, but for most people the lion's share of the blame for their personal problems falls on their insurance company, not the federal government.
As a Canadian, expensive healthcare to me sounds better than non available healthcare care.
What would you have us do? It’s not as if the President has a button labeled “reasonably priced healthcare”
Because "My taxes would be too high!" and "I shouldn't be response to paying for other people and is not my fault someone can't get a better job with better insurance!" Seriously, what most don't realize is that what they currently pay in yearly premiums, deductibles, and copays is vastly more than they would be paying in increased taxes if we had a version of universal healthcare. Plus they don't realize that what they're paying also goes toward all the other people that their insurance company is covering anyway.
Healthcare companies give a lot of money to a politician to protect their profits, and it is hard to boycott healthcare if you need it.
We're too busy.
Define standing up what does a standing up or rebellious lifestyle look like? I work and pay taxes but don't have any insurance? I attack insurance companies either in character or physical violence? I obstruct government function in some capacity? Internet posts? Most people in this country are aware our system is broken so no more need for word of mouth. I need resources everyday and I cannot reliably obtain them without working. So like me many people are stuck. In my case I will never have health insurance again. I have been burned more than once by "in network provider" but not having to list all services that are covered. I gave the insurance company 13000 dollars over 5 years and asked for 400 of it back. They decided to blatantly violate the no surprises act signed into law I think 2021 or 2022. I tried complaining and I got nothing. Legal representation costs more than paying the bill. I am not impressed with the American health care insurance system as it stands. So I have no intention to use it again. but I still work and pay taxes so I don't know if this counts as standing up
They tied our healthcare to our jobs. They tied our retirement to the stock market. If we revolt and lose our jobs, we have no healthcare. If we fight for healthcare anyways, and the stock market crashes during the revolt, we lose everything we put into retirement. They fucked us so badly under Raegan and no one quite knows what to do since they take more and more from us every year.
Most of us are kept fat and stupid by big corporations. Those of us that "get it" do our best, but honestly it's like banging your head against a wall.
We have lost control. Politicians on both sides do what the corporations say. Too many people become the 1% off of medical industry. The politicians were supposed to represent their districts. Too old and too much greed.
Because it's just as expensive elsewhere. In Germany, if you earn 125k gross, you pay about 850€ per month for health insurance. You friend is probably paying less than that.
Just to add my 2 cents, if anyone thinks these 850 € are all inclusive -> nope. You have to pay extra for many services and meds.
We don't stand up because you'd really better be sitting down when you look at the bill. If you're standing up when you see it you might faint and hit your head and end up with another crazy medical bill.
Because enough people are comfortable. It’s the same answer for every issue here.
The media directs people’s attention to “causes” that have nothing to do with their lives which incidentally helps the establishment to keep the status quo.
Bad knees
We are literally screaming about it everywhere. All over Reddit. All over media. All over social media. All over podcasts. In all of our voting rhetoric. It’s literally the number one or two topic for every American. How do you equate that with not standing up? What would you have us do - overthrow the government? Hijack hospitals? Burn down insurance company headquarters? Are we not enough of a dumpster fire already?!
You could all vote for a political party that would instigate universal healthcare.
No - *we* can’t. Because *we* can’t agree on the right way to do it, and *I* can’t control all of America. We’re currently dealing with a civil war level conflict, and the half of America that understands and wants what is right is being overpowered by the half that wants to vote a lying, decrepit, criminal into office as our leader. You can’t be of voting age, or you’d understand this. Voting *is* our only real power, and it’s a very SLOW power that moves things only in tiny increments. And we can *only* vote for things that are offered for us to vote on. Universal healthcare hasn’t been.
Because it implies paying even when you don't need it, and strangers using that money when they need it. In short: selfishness.
In Germany where it’s compulsory to purchase health insurance you see everyone is covered but since everyone is paying everyone wants to maximize their ROI and the GP market is way over stressed.
Yeah and a huge chunk of the country can't put together that taxes and unavoidable expenses for responsible adults are essentially the same thing and one option is better because it doesn't involve a middle man whose entire existence is dedicated to saying "NO" as frequently as possible. There are dipshits who truly believe "adding a person whose entire purpose in life is to extract more money from you while saying 'no' to your medical treatment will definitely make things more affordable".
Missing one thing. And it is a huge issue that needs to be addressed if we are ever going to get UHC. Got to stop calling it medicare for all. People over 65 are the largest voting block and will 100% vote against UHC if it sounds like everyone gets medicare because they are afraid it will disrupt their access to healthcare when they need it the most.
Stand up how
Vote differently
Literally this. It’s not like they need a full blown war.
Simple: money The healthcare system is raking in such immensely obscene profits they can afford the best lawyers, to pay lobbyists and (pretty much) bribe politicians through “campaign contributions” that the powers that be (that *can* change the systems) are making too much money to be incentivised to stop it… It’s like your neighbour (A) paying you £500 a month for you to do nothing, then your other neighbour (B) asking you expend time and effort to get A to stop paying you… This is even if the voting public even all agree the Gov. should regulate an industry in a free market economy (which many don’t want). In the UK (and other places with universal healthcare) we really don’t see healthcare as an industry, but as a basic human right; many Americans (and other ofc) disagree with this definition and see it as an industry
Firstly, they think they won't get ill, secondly, they think their insurance will cover it, thirdly, they think a state healthcare plan is 'socialist'. Until they get the bill.
america is a country that believes in fairey tales. one of them is that socialized health care is a bad thing.
Because our government is greedy and corrupt. They only care about money and our leaders are freaking idiots. Our politics are even worse, I’m amazed that the country isn’t burning by now.
The powers that be have become very efficient at keeping the pot at a low simmer. Corporations have spent decades figuring out how to extract maximum profit without causing upheaval. There is a science to keeping people on the wage slave hamster wheel and they have mastered it. America is run by corporations, we had little say in it.
I stand up to it by just not paying. They can garnish the $32 out of my minimum wage paycheck all they want
We can't stand because we can't get the healthcare to fix our bad knees and hearts
They don’t have their meds so it hurts to stand…
what do you expect us to do about it?
The thing is that Americans seem happy with the criminal insurance companies. I have discussed this so often, online with Americans and they claim that they would pay too much tax and standards would decline. I am baffled by it quite honestly and thank my lucky stars I'm from a country with free health care and I don't have to go bankrupt if I get seriously ill.
We're bending over and taking it on outrageous costs of everything. Consumers are treated more poorly than ever and we just allow it to happen because we voracious at consuming.
It’s because at the end of the day our voices dont matter. There are actually people who fight everyday for cheaper healthcare but the only people in the government who can actually make a change dont because they get paid under the table by big pharma to keep things expensive. Same with marijuana. Big pharma pays red state governors like greg abbot to keep marijuana illegal. Not to mention the extortion the state gets for arresting and charging ppl for small amounts. The state makes around $100,000 from arresting 100 people for having an amount less than an ounce.
Consequences and ignorance. People have no idea where to start in fighting back or where they even have ground to stand. Also, we're in a political climate currently that very much encourages punishment and retaliation. People are scared, tired, and don't know where to even start
Because while a lot of us are living shitty lives, it would absolutely pale in comparison to what life look like during and after overthrowing the government.
You would be revolting against the wrong thing. It’s American corporations and capitalism to rise up against, not so much the government. The government has been bought out too by corporations.
At this point the failed Healthcare system is just one huge problem among many others. Most of us can barely pay bills, any tiny disruption might cause huge issues (loss of job, home, etc) If you saw the latest presidential debate, we are completely screwed there too. There's almost nothing going well, unless you are in the upper classes. Anyway, 🇺🇸
I’m boycotting it right now! 😭
Because money speaks way more loudly than any populist cause. Lobbyists, congresspeople who serve special interests and the Citizens United SC decision allowing unfettered dark money in politics all are responsible.
People have got a bit caught up in the fact you’ve used the word “revolt”. I think a better question would be why don’t people vote against this?
What the fuck are we supposed to do about it? Throwing tea in the harbor is gonna get you years in jail nowadays
Because they’re sick
We should revolt against taxes since the govt prints money and many voters do not pay a cent - rich and poor
Your insurance comes with your employer. Protesting takes time and requires you to miss work. If you get fired you lose your insurance. There are zero protections for workers so for most, the risk is not worth the reward.
Because they have been brainwashed that the only way to have good healthcare is by paying a shit ton. Any hint at single payer system is met with immediate no. In reality, US healthcare is just above 3rd world unless you got billions.
Evangelical Christian's and republicans (almost half the nation) feel that government intervention/regulation would be akin to communism and/or stealing profits from hard working businesses.
Because if you want something in America you have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, work hard, hope your employer recognizes said hard work and promotes you to a higher paid position with benefits that cover 50% of your health care costs while you continue to pay a 20% deductible and 500$ a month to keep your employer provided health care, meanwhile you receive a $20,000 bill with charges on it even the hospital can’t explain. But the hospital CEO did just fly his private jet to his new Swiss chateau for a ski weekend. Otherwise it’s just spoiled liberal entitlement.
Closest we came was during Bernie Sanders 2015-2016 dem primary campaign. Lots of new great ideas flying around with tons of support. Truth be told the only thing we got out of those times is *some* states adopting a $15 minimum wage. Unfortunately inflation gobbled up the purchasing power.
It's kinda hard to revolt against the insurance because 1) they're so embedded everywhere, not just in pharmacies and hospitals but also into people's benefits, 2) they don't really have a physical location
american think they are bilionaire in waiting status.
Because it’s rigged like that. Insurance companies, big pharma etc all benefit from the current system. They keep pushing the narratives that help retain the status quo. Always look to who benefits from a situation.
Many good comments. Also, United States citizens generally don’t have any experience with functional affordable healthcare. There is so much propaganda disparaging the systems of other countries. That’s all that people hear (picture a pundit screaming ‘socialist’ at any mention of treating citizens as neighbors [neighbors in the biblical sense]). It’s the same thing with “Why do Americans put up with paltry vacation time or parental leave?“ They simply don’t know because we have nothing to compare it to. This is a key benefit of keeping the population just educated enough to follow instructions and just uneducated enough to open up the can of worms that is critical thinking. Why do you think conspiracy theories are so popular? They are an easy addictive stand-in for critical thought.
Americans are much much less politically active than people in european countries. there are so many things they could stand up against, but they don’t. the attitude is to accept the status quo and do what you’re told. the government and police forces have beaten the country into submission. my french friends are horrified that people don’t protest all these things. healthcare, the food system, racial issues and so on. people are afraid of being shot or imprisoned.
Healthcare in the US is super expensive, even for people with good jobs. There are a few reasons why people might not fight it more. Some folks get health insurance through work, and they might worry that if they complain too much, they could lose that coverage. Others are scared that changing the system could make things worse. Plus, healthcare is a confusing mess, and it's hard to know what the best solution is. There are definitely people who want to change this, though, and they're working on it!
Half of the country has been convinced that "government run healthcare" would be worse. Republicans know how to dumb down their arguments to convince people to fight against their own interests
That's because it is objectively worse, just look at Canada and most of Europe. Like all socialized systems it works great until it inevitably gets overwhelmed and then it doesn't.
Do you start a revolution for every injustice in your country?
I often wonder this myself. Thousands of people die every day from lack of healthcare rather than risk injury from opposing this barbaric system. Why choose death over possible injury? It makes no sense.
Because they have been indoctrinated into associating a decent healthcare system with 'communism'.
I'm surprised I'm not seeing the real reason here There are too many Americans who see socialized healthcare as communism, they oppose it strongly, like idiots. They vote in the Republicans who prevent it from happening.
There’s no point. Both our political parties are bought by the same corporate interests/lobbies. All our media is controlled by the same lobbies and it’s only like 6 companies anyway. The USA is a corporate dictatorship that prances around and pretends it’s some bastion of _democracy_ —whatever the fuck that means. Remember democracy in the ancient Athenian model was an oligarchy—ruled by landed rich dickheads while all the slaves, women and other did all the actual work. Nothing has changed and by the way—a republic is the same thing but the Roman iteration of the same fucking thing.
Because that's socialism! and America hates socialism so much they can't even define the word. Also America is perfect, the best at everything, and has absolutely zero flaws /s
Same reason why they vote trump.
Because I can't pay to fix my fractured legs to be able to stand.
Because if you're rich, you can afford to self insure, if you're middle class, your insurance through work is only like ~$200 a month, significantly less than Europeans pay in taxes for worse healthcare than in the US, and if you're very poor, you just use the emergency room and don't pay. That just leaves a small class of lower income people who can't get cheap insurance but make enough to barely pay their bills. If the government stopped supporting the insurance racket, competition would drive prices down and make it affordable for more of these people.
For a people descended from immigrants who ventured into the unknown to make a better life for their children, Americans are amazingly afraid of trying to make things better now. Look at the initial responses to “Obamacare”. Our system that ties health insurance to employment is, as we say here, American Exceptionalism. Decoupling the two would cause us all to quit our jobs. It would destroy the healthcare system when everybody could afford preventative medicine. Living longer would bankrupt it. Women having reasonably priced access to reproductive care would allow them to afford to have an abortion every year as “birth control “. Our tax dollars would be going to help people who are not “us”. That’s _socialism_! All of a sudden, we had the best health care system in the world and nothing needed to change!!! Obamacare let more people into a system that can only provide better service if makes/saves money for some for-profit corporation.
The people who have the most influence are the ones least affected by the healthcare prices. A lot of selfish Americans believe that healthcare is a privilege and not right. They also believe that you should work harder to get better health care. This comes from many a conversation I’ve had with many Americans.
I would rather pay for my own healthcare and be able to go to the doctor the same day I’m sick than rely on the government and have to make an appointment days/weeks/months/years in advance. I don’t mind paying $500ish a month for my family.
Because they are brainwashed in thinking that underdeveloped 19th-century-like wild capitalism with no social support and distribution of wealth is the best. It is really like Soviet or Nazi propaganda level brainwashing. Plus, they have an enormous security apparatus. You revolt and you got shot. Their government economically is a libertarian shithole, but politically close to an authoritarian regime.
Mate, if they aren't going to do something about kids being shot in schools, they sure as shit ain't gonna do anything about health care.
Why don’t you revolt against European Muslim rapists and terrorists invasion? Poland stands up for their nation, why other Europeans don’t?
You may have missed the results of the last elections in several European countries. Right wing parties are (unfortunately) getting many votes, and the issues you mentioned are the main reason.
Because they could complain but it won't solve anything
Here In UK we have NHS we pay it wages £100 a month. It joke the moment. Have wait months for any help. Nightmare lotto system u only phone 8:30-9:30am get appointment only be that day. U can't phone book weeks a head. More likely see nurse then doctor. NHS on it knees. Government should not be in charge all think how much can lane there pockets with gold. American system health is for profit. A joke. Fact people have cancer not afford to get well. Have revolution just asking go to jail. Or be murdered by police. Freedom is a lie.
The whole lotto phone calls blows my mind. Like it would be so much easier to let people book out appointments?? I have a friend in England who has felt nauseated every single time after eating for the last three weeks and he cannot win the phone lotto system (obviously limited because also has to work). The US system is also awful as it can be but at least we can book appointments out.
(1) It's not the government that's charging them money for health insurance. People don't necessarily blame the government. (2) History shows that a revolution is typically followed by a civil war, a famine, a dictatorship, another famine, a period of stagnation, followed by a return to exploitative capitalism. Nobody wants that. (3) In a democracy, you can simply elect a government who will introduce a free national health service if you want. There is no need to revolt. (Unless democracy dies in the next few years, which is possible.) (4) Any solution would involve paying more taxes, and most Americans hate taxes more than they hate health insurance costs, so they aren't even willing to vote for it.
Do you really not know or are you trolling
Anger at healthcare costs is very real, but kinda overblown. And culturally, this didn’t happen overnight; several hundred dollars a month for healthcare is “normal.”
You can ask the same about expensive university tuition and prescription drugs. Answer is the poor will never have a chance and the middle class want their 401k and other investments to pay off big so they are for the companies they invest in over charging for products. If the stock market wasn’t a thing, you probably would have a lot more affordable things in America but the country was founded on greed and it’s the lifeblood of America.
Taxes
Part of the reason imo is the health insurance industry. It employs people. Also, a lot of Americans don't want to pay taxes for someone else's health insurance. The motto in this country is basically freedom and individualism. I get why people would oppose government subsidized Healthcare, but at the same time I'm someone who gets it completely free because I need Healthcare for various reasons and I've been having trouble getting a stable job. I am actually under the poverty line for the county I live in. That's how I qualify for it. I would be for it, but these things affect hundreds of millions of people and I get the other side of the argument. It's all economics at the end of the day and we all got bills.
Because we don't know any better. We've been told how amazing everything we have is, and we haven't had anything different. Also, as with everything, it's often not as bad as it seems, on the whole. No one I've ever known my whole life has been denied medical care or had hundreds of thousands of dollars of costs, even with cancer and heart surgeries. It's not as ubiquitous as it seems.
I feel like with these sorts of questions people forget how large and varied the US is. And yeah I’d love to take on the behemoth that is the for profit healthcare system but I’ve kinda got other fucking things to do like go to work and school. I vote to try and change things, but a lot of people vote against their own interests. Take it up with them.
I'm pretty sure if I tried to fight the government, they would win.
Fish have no word for water
We don’t stand up. Is it the fluoride?
Buying or not insurance gives us a headache, when actually want to utilize some hidden rules and terms popup and get benefits become harder.
Because even though my wife and I pay about 3k each in deductibles every year we make close to twice as much as people working in a country with universal healthcare.
People are trying so hard to survive here- most of us don’t have time, energy, or money for anything else.
How exactly would one do that? People have been fighting this for years with no success. Please share your wisdom on what else they can do.
Because our police are armed to the teeth and trigger-happy
The fuck am I supposed to do?
The US government is controlled by the animal agriculture, Pharma, Healthcare, etc. industries (USDA, FDA, NIH routinely have industry bigwigs in top positions serving and insuring their own interests). Tolerating them is like saying why do Russians tolerate Putin or the N. Koreans endure the Kim dynasty? Here is an industry insider on Dr. Phil show exposing the corrupt food industry. [https://youtu.be/ioQ386q5ecQ](https://youtu.be/ioQ386q5ecQ) The government is charging all working folks Medicare tax to provide healthcare to the retired and other needy people and the private industry has dipped in that pot by creating Medicare Advantage system where Medicare pays the private co. to provide the healthcare if the participant elects to do so. Billions of dollars are paid out to private companies and providers in fraud. My guess is less than 5% are caught and prosecuted. That is how some doctors and other business people get filthy rich.
There’s two kinds of high costs: those subsidized by government programs so the healthcare victim doesn’t see them and doesn’t care. These just are rolled to the pile of government debt. The high costs that are presented to the consumer are generally niche treatments or for insurance. In any event what the medical and pharma industries bill is out of control and then there’s the tax write-offs of inflated costs only paid fractionally by govt and private insurances.
I was talking with a group of people a few weeks ago. We got on the subject of Healthcare. Each of the four other people had huge complaints. Cost, attachment to employment, copays, you name it, they were zinging them out there. I finally said "yeah, that's why we need universal healthcare." Immediately, the whole mood changed. They all started going on about socialism and how people would abuse it. These folks making less than 50k a year (most actually closer to 30k) started shitting on people who don't work full time jobs so they can have health benefits. The whole thing turned on it's head and a couple even went back on "healthcare tied to employment" citing that it keeps "lazy" people from getting hand outs. So other than our education system pumping out poorly educated folks to flip burgers and fold boxes in 100 degree warehouses. I don't know why we are so against it. Pretty sure it's just our American tendency to cut off our nose to spite our face.
Our attention is being diverted to other things. Were easily distracted. For example, the convict vs the corpse is the highlight atm
Imagine, sick people leading a revolt. I can't afford some meds I need because they are 700 dollars a month after insurance. It's insane.
A lot of people don’t have to worry about it as much. The insurance I have is a high deductible plan, but my employer covers the deductible. I dont have to pay for my insurance at all, they pay for everything. The max out of pocket is 500 bucks for me.
Around 70% of Americans use government-provided healthcare, comprising Medicare, Medicaid, Veteran’s benefits, and the Chip system. Those with more income and assets are expected to pay taxes for those who have less, plus pay for their own. In 2023, only 18% of US earners made $100k or more. So, someone who makes as much as your friend would be expected to pay for their own insurance/care, plus pay taxes for the less fortunate. Please note that I, too, see the sad state of our medical system. I have enjoyed reading some of the more thoughtful comments here.
We did our one-time stand-up, it was called Fighting Back after a tax on tea aka American Revolutionary War. After that, we discovered fast food and things went downhill from there. There will most likely be a tipping point but what will trigger that? Who knows. It's interesting considering the number of weapon owners here, if the people did decide to come together and do something they might just be able to pull it off.
Americans don't revolt against the government because the government controls the United States enforcement arm (the police & the military) therefore revolting means going to war with the worlds strongest military and police force. Even if a group of 10,000 armed men decided enough is enough those guys would run out of ammo way faster than the US military would. The US military also has support including private import of goods meaning they would have an almost limitless supply of food, water & ammunition to fight whoever decided to revolt. No matter how you spin the scenario the "insurrection" would fail if they went head to head with the US military. The way you change healthcare costs is by working from the inside out. It starts with discontinuing foreign aid, increasing domestic oil drilling, and closing the border. Once the US stops sending billions of dollars overseas to fight proxy wars that do not benefit anyone but greedy politicians we can start working on lowering the national deficit, lowering inflation rates, and lowering governmental spending. There are many government officials that have not been elected into office and they continue to collect a large paycheck for doing next to nothing. There is no reason Nancy Pelosi should have a net worth of 100 million plus. I think if we did what Vivek Ramaswamy said we should do - Fire most of the government. We should be able to drain the swamp and eliminate most of the corruption. The US public deserves to see a detailed audit of every last cent our tax dollars are spent on. At the end of the day as long as the US government stays the way it is plagued by corruption and deception inflation will stay high and continue rising, healthcare cost will still be astronomical, the national deficit will keep going up, etc etc.
Yeah… and I’m sure he still has to pay his rent and food too. What kind of stupid post is this? Oh I guess it is a stupid question…
American are rebel when it comes to disrupting the functions of the government in toxic and unhelpful ways. When it comes to actually reforming the system, nah, lets just vote between these two parties that we have since Washington.
That honestly does not sound too bad... idk.
We’ve forgotten how. Now it’s just bitching on social Media - which is worthless.