A real discussion about health care

A family of four has a combined income of 100K. A retirement/college stash of 100K. One spouse gets MS and cannot work anymore. Things are tight but the other spouse made the most money and had the insurance. The spouse with MS deteriorates until they are bedridden and need almost constant care. Very expensive. Now the second spouse loses their job.

What sort of health care system will keep this family from being crushed by medical bills and wiping out their savings?

Very specific case for a non-specific system.

No suggestions on what do to for people in this situation?

Being that it’s not the norm? No. Best of luck to them. I have my own to take care of.

You don’t think many others are in the same boat with different medical conditions?

Some are. The vast majority are not.

They’re not my responsibility.

Every man for himself, eh?

In a perfect world, yes.

Why would that be a perfect world?

Single payer

I’ll leave you to give it some actual thought.

Single payer in general delivers the right balance of care v cost.

The problem with single payer, politically, is:

  • It goes against the American mythos
  • The benefits are hard to see because of the way they accrue. People have a difficult time visualizing lifetime costs and doing proper baseline comparisons. They see that big tax bill right up front, though. They also don’t see that under the current system they are still paying for those that they believe “they have no responsibility for”.
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I’m asking why YOU believe this.

Yes, that would do it, but as we know many people say they don’t want that. I wonder what alternatives they can come up with.

Because it’s a part of my belief system. Also none of your business, which also corresponds to my belief system.

If you get sick, best of luck to you. If I like you, I’ll donate money to the cause. I’ll also feverishly resist any compulsion to help you.

I have my own people to care for.

You’re already caring for those people who you think you’re not caring for under the current system.

And have you examined what other unintended consequences of that “perfect world” there would be if it obtained?

Correct, my money IS being stolen and given to people who don’t deserve it. I’m against that.

Unintended? A bold assumption on your part.

Why don’t they deserve it?

What is the metric for “deserved”?

Do you go to the VA?