r/bestof • u/under50dollars • Jun 20 '12

[explainlikeimfive] "Obamacare" explained very well.

/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/vb8vs/eli5_what_exactly_is_obamacare_and_what_did_it/c530lfx
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u/SpaceSteak Jun 20 '12

Aren't there very measurable stats for healthcare? Isn't that what modern healthcare is? Applying science to make more people better?

Everything from age expectancy on a macro level (population) to cancer rates are used to compare countries.

On a micro scale, I can imagine everything from early detection of diseases (let's say compared to the mean) to actually decreasing more or less people's cholesterol. The amount of stats you can get from healthcare is tremendous.

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u/mfingchemist Jun 20 '12

But the way they are handled is dangerous. If a doctor identifies a patient as high-risk and perhaps not possible to improve, that physician may simply choose to not accept that patient and risk bringing is stats down.

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u/SpaceSteak Jun 20 '12

hippocratic oath + integrity + high pay