RE: Repealing the Affordable Care Act will kill more than 43,000 people annually
January 25, 2017 at 9:37 pm
(This post was last modified: January 25, 2017 at 9:41 pm by Minimalist.)
(January 25, 2017 at 10:49 am)Cato Wrote:(January 24, 2017 at 9:45 pm)Minimalist Wrote: So, you think that if people did not have insurance they would be able to pay to repair severe accident damage by themselves?
No, and that's a separate issue and not consistent with the analogy. I said 'totaled'; similar to death. Without insurance people can ward off being 'totaled' by visiting the emergency room. People are not turned away because they don't have insurance. The argument is that people are not dying because they don't have insurance.
The point you raise is a fair consideration though. Although people aren't turned away for not having insurance, they will get billed. This is one of the many reasons the ACA should not be repealed unless it can be replaced. People with preexisting conditions would also apply; among several other reasons that are valid arguments. I just think we should let go of the scare tactic that people will die without insurance. It's unreasonable, particularly with the way the numbers are generated that go along with the argument.
We are all going to die, with or without insurance. It's a far better tactic to force the dialogue around quality of life, some aspects of healthcare as a right, the cost of healthcare and the ability to afford it.
Well, it was your analogy. People who get screened for diabetes can be treated with diet/exercise and medication. People who show up in a diabetic coma at an ER are in much deeper shit. Or worse, if they have gangrene they can have something amputated but the costs in an ER are astonishingly high and if they don't have insurance and have to rely on Medicare guess who pays for that in the long run? Right. We do.
I see that Tibs already nailed the answer.
(January 25, 2017 at 9:10 pm)Aegon Wrote: I found out today that I'm more or less a month away from Stage 5 CKD. I'll have to get dialysis treatments and file the paperwork to get on the transplant list. So, sorry if I don't approach this topic with pure logic; it's very personal to me.
Best wishes, man.
