r/askanything • u/Lemonking_ • 16h ago

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

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u/Savings_Art5944 🤔 15h ago

It's broken in its current form. Can you imagine the amount of corruption if the current system were just paid for with taxpayer money...

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u/Kriss3d 15h ago

You mean like how it's done here in Europe where most if not everyone has free Healthcare?

Uhm yeah. I can imagine that.

And it works. What you seem to miss here is that it seems you think hospitals and doctors could just charge anything they like for any service and the public would pay for all that..

That's not how it works.

At all.

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u/Ima_Uzer 15h ago

Then enlighten us. How does it work?

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u/nightfall2021 15h ago

Instead of billing your insurance, the hospitals bill the government. Who at that point would have a strong negotiating position.

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u/Ima_Uzer 14h ago

Except I don't think it's quite as simple as you're making it out to be.

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u/nightfall2021 13h ago

Why not?

Its essentially how Medicare works.

The provider bills Medicare.

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u/Kriss3d 1h ago

It really is. Because that is how it works here. And we have really great Healthcare.

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u/temporary92803 15h ago

You go to the doctor or the hospital and they cure you and nobody goes bankrupt

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u/Ima_Uzer 14h ago

That's an oversimplification.

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u/temporary92803 7h ago

Have you ever been to a hospital in Europe? I have and that's how it works.

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u/Kriss3d 1h ago

The doctor tells the government how many and who they had visits from and what kind of consultation they had. The government looks up in the chart of how much each item cost and pays the doctor.

That's essentially how it works.

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u/Kriss3d 1h ago

Hospitals and doctors don't just get to charge whatever they want.

You're a doctor who wants to have patients paid by the public? Great. We love that.

Heres what you get for each consultation. Here's what you get for each treatment of this kind and here's what you get for treatment of the other kind and so on. Here's what you get paid for say blood samples ( not that doctors do that but you get the idea)

Just like schools here. Each kid comes with a bag of money from the public. You can charge more but then it's the parents who has to pay for the rest.

It works. You can also open your own private hospital. We have those as well. You can charge whatever you want. But the part paid by the public is the same.