Democratic Primary Push for White House

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by mooby

I thought the guy definitely looked similar to Biden too.

Also Schneed, that's probably the best argument I've ever heard against Medicare-for-all. +1 for bringing a well thought-out argument to the table.

Things that need fixing:

Price gouging on life-saving medications like Epipens. Companies should have to provide justification if they are going to jack up the rate on anything over a certain percent (like the 5000% price increases which have become more common in the last decade or so)

People filing for medical bankruptcy after sustaining a major injury. Is it fair that someone should die or be bankrupt for the rest of their life because of an accident that may or may not have been their fault? Just to clarify on this as well, I'm not advocating for someone with no insurance who gets into an accident that is their fault. I'm advocating for people who have insurance who get into accidents that aren't their fault and end up in medical bankruptcy because they'll never be able to afford to pay off their medical bills in their lifetime.

I could get into it about how a system that values profit over human life is broken but I also recognize that on this board, with this audience, it's most likely going to be unpopular.

Agree on price gouging with medicines. Seems like this could be prevented by allowing the original patent-holder for a drug to collect royalties on any generic versions that are sold after the five-year patent expires. You wouldn't need to jack prices up if you knew a drug you developed would continue driving an income stream after the first five years.

And agree on your point about minimum levels of coverage. The lowest level of coverage should definitely cover the costs of catastrophic events. If you get your insurance from an employer, and it doesn't cover to that level, that should not be permissible in my opinion.

If you bought it on the market yourself though, you should have known that's what you're buying. It's like if I buy only $100K of term life insurance coverage and when I die my wife and two girls are like shit this isn't enough, that's my wife's and my fault.

But plans offered through employers should definitely cover those things. The minimum essential coverage clause in Obamacare went a long way to helping with this but probably still need a bit more teeth.