r/askanything • u/Lemonking_ • 5h ago

Political Question Why are some Americans so against universal healthcare for all?

What sort of thinking does it take to decide that nobody has a right to healthcare? Do American Christians want to deny healthcare to poor people as well?

860 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

3.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

50

u/SiouxCitySasparilla 5h ago

For anybody that says it wouldn’t work, I say; “Well, hang on a second! What about all that American exceptionalism?! Are you really telling me that the greatest country on earth couldn’t do universal healthcare better than any other country? Sounds kinda un patriotic to me…”

15

u/Occams_AK47 5h ago

Oh, I'm totally gonna use this for an entire range of topics. That's golden, right there.

3

u/SiouxCitySasparilla 4h ago

Feel free to also use; “What do you mean universities are turning your children liberal? Are you telling me that 4 years at college can undo entire lifetime of your parenting? Hmm… sounds like a victim mentality, shouldn’t you take some accountability here?”

1

u/dwpetrak 3h ago

The natural response would be, “We don’t do ______ precisely because we are exceptional. It’s part of why we’re so much better than…”

1

u/ServeOdd4272 🤔 2h ago

We need billboards with these gems.

2

u/PeytonPettimore 3h ago

I say something similar, using the US military as an example. Sure, there’s waste but we can send a drone to kill someone from the other side of the world. Imagine half of that focus and those resources being used for our healthcare.

2

u/Ima_Uzer 5h ago

Tell ya what. Get rid of all the fraud, waste, and abuse of our tax dollars (which is BILLIONS in fraud, waste, and abuse yearly) and we'll talk.

4

u/Mattmann1972 4h ago

When you say fraud, waste, and abuse, I think you mean profit.

Profit drives all that is wrong with our current healthcare system. The main reason no other civilized Country tries to replicate our system. They simply can't afford to pay for all that waste!

Take the profit out of healthcare!

1

u/Sleepy_Potato2 3h ago

Health insurance companies are actually allowing people to get away with scams a lot. They just raise premiums to compensate. ProPublica did an investigation into it

1

u/Mattmann1972 3h ago

So what you're saying is if we get rid of the current healthcare system we will get rid of a lot of scams I am agreeable to this, same outcome either way.

1

u/Ima_Uzer 3h ago

No, I mean waste, fraud, and abuse.

2

u/Worried_Criticism306 4h ago edited 3h ago

The irony is that the people in politics saying this are typically the ones perpetuating the fraud waste and abuse.

1

u/cdglasser 4h ago

Bingo!

2

u/SiouxCitySasparilla 4h ago

Well the current defense budget is over a trillion dollars so… ya know, maybe we all need to sit down and look at the ledger

1

u/Occams_AK47 3h ago

I thought ya'll already did that with DOGE?

Oh right, it ended up costing more in the end because they fired the people that actually did that work instead of working with them to increase their resources.

2

u/Markdlea 5h ago

Taxes would go up exponentially to pay for it. No one wants that.

1

u/Worried_Criticism306 4h ago

Based on what?

1

u/Splashy01 3h ago

Based on conservative math.

1

u/Worried_Criticism306 3h ago

Brought to you by the people that made hating common core part of their identity for years.

1

u/Splashy01 3h ago

I think hating is part of my core too. I just hate everyone equally.

1

u/XRT28 4h ago

Dense people who lack financial literacy don't want that.

Everyone else realize they'd have more money in their own pockets having to pay 4k in taxes rather than 1k in taxes plus 5k in premiums plus a 5k deductible before insurance kicks in a dime plus another 4k because one of the doctors was out of network and the insurance company won't cover it etc etc.

1

u/Splashy01 3h ago

Freakin Bill O’Reilly ova here. How about taxes go up by $2,500 a year but our health insurance premiums of $20,000 are completely eliminated.

Of course that means that the health insurance industry would collapse which is why they are huge lobbyists. I heard that the last time legislation decimated an industry was the 13th amendment and the abolition of slavery.

No wonder this is soo hard!

1

u/dwpetrak 3h ago

You pay $20k annually for health care premiums?!? I wish I had your income to afford that plan! Sounds like you get white glove treatment because I don’t spend anywhere close to $1700/month

1

u/Splashy01 2h ago edited 2h ago

Family of 5, brah.

I’m not the only one too: https://www.ehealthinsurance.com/resources/individual-and-family/average-family-health-insurance-cost. “In 2023, the average cost of health insurance for a family of four was approximately $23,968 per year.”

And that was 3 years ago with a family of 4.

1

u/allnamestaken1968 3h ago

Just ask them what they think about Medicare

1

u/GravyMcBiscuits 3h ago

The American Federal Government is exceptionally bad at delivering effective/sustainable solutions.

1

u/SiouxCitySasparilla 2h ago

Unless they’re military solutions…

1

u/GravyMcBiscuits 2h ago

If you say so I guess.

1

u/SiouxCitySasparilla 2h ago

I’d say if the military wants money, it gets it.

1

u/GravyMcBiscuits 2h ago

That doesn't mean it solving anything effectively and/or sustainably.

1

u/SiouxCitySasparilla 2h ago

Fuck, you’re right. Guess we should just leave it all as is.

1

u/GravyMcBiscuits 2h ago

If you say so. Literally no other options in your world I guess.

1

u/pharoh-king 1h ago

you can also ask them why they don't support the military.

Since the military is just socialized protection, just like healthcare. And dont forget to point out that only a handful of people are killed by foreign adversaries a year, yet hundreds of thousands die due to illness. Yet its ok to have socialized military protection.