Beginning of the end, for Obamacare?

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(12-05-2015, 04:24 PM)JustWinBaby Wrote: Apparently, in your case, supply and demand.

I don't think you have a clue about how pharma really works, much less the concept of a return on R&D.  You also appear clueless about why drug prices are different in different countries (hint: single payor).

But allow me to fill you in - there is very little profit in global pharma because the prices are generally set to barely cover cost.  So the lionshare of profits - which is where money for R&D comes from - come from the US.  This is what it means when people say the US funds global healthcare.  Sure, I'm all for getting out of that game as soon as Donald Trump tells me how he's going to get Mexico and China to pay their fair share.

I'm not even going to bother talking about patents and why those protections must exist.

Again, you try to blame everyone, but the drug companies for what the drug companies charge in the U.S.  

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(12-05-2015, 04:24 PM)JustWinBaby Wrote: Apparently, in your case, supply and demand.

I don't think you have a clue about how pharma really works, much less the concept of a return on R&D.  You also appear clueless about why drug prices are different in different countries (hint: single payor).

But allow me to fill you in - there is very little profit in global pharma because the prices are generally set to barely cover cost.   So the lionshare of profits - which is where money for R&D comes from - come from the US.  This is what it means when people say the US funds global healthcare.  Sure, I'm all for getting out of that game as soon as Donald Trump tells me how he's going to get Mexico and China to pay their fair share.

I'm not even going to bother talking about patents and why those protections must exist.

Then once that's finished....they move to Ireland to avoid paying taxes and re-investing that revenue in the infrastructure that allowed for that R&D

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

Until you've had to take days off from work arguing on the phone for hours to get the insurance company you are paying to pay your life saving treatment over the course of five months.....don't talk to me about how great insurance companies are. We won't even get into the battles over tests and meds. Get sick on a COBRA policy and see what happens to you.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(12-05-2015, 04:32 PM)JustWinBaby Wrote: Sure, you can continue to argue like someone who doesn't understand jack squat about economics, business and finance.  You certainly don't need me to help you demonstrate what you are clueless about.

I'm not bullshitting you, you don't know how to analyze the issues.  The number of insureds is irrelevant - do you disagree that 300M+ are getting care, and contributing to healthcare costs, whether they have insurance or not?  And why is this even a debate when the goal is to insure everyone?  Profits of health insurers was never a huge pot of gold, and if you feel like a sucker for believing that you should.

You can continue carrying the good liberal torch because you've drank the kool-aid about who the big baddies are causing all the problems, or you can actually learn what's going on and then maybe demand and vote for people with solutions.

Or you can continue to make senseless rants on a message board and vote for politicians who promise you they will punish the big bad healthcare companies, and then turn around and pass regulations that arbitrarily strengthen the competitive position of those same companies.

None of the politicians have any meaningful solutions so drop the empty platitudes about demanding and voting for politicians with solutions. And if a politician did offer a meaningful solution private industry would buy enough politicians on the opposite side of the aisle nothing would change. 


Still trying to convince me those profits still aren't profits?  Predictable. 

And no, 300 million aren't contributing to increased costs. Now you're even blaming the paying customers for cost increases. Real nice. 

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(12-05-2015, 04:45 PM)JustWinBaby Wrote: If you want to talk about incompetence which exists in pretty much every industry, then rant on.  But it's really nothing more than a personal anecdote that has little to do with rising healthcare costs.

Don't accuse me of being a fluffer for insurance companies just because you're clueless about economics.  Stick with doctoring.  You're problem is you're so focused on insurance companies scratching out a profit (which is closer to 0 when you remove their investment returns on reserves) that you fail to recognize or acknowledge the role insurance companies have in keeping costs down.

Yet, you cite the govt (Medicare) as the foundation of the nickle and diming and layers of bureacracy and billing created....and so you're solution is more govt, because capitalism is evil?  Sounds to me like you actually know govt and regulation is a big part of what is driving the costs, but you just can't admit it.  Like a good liberal, more govt is always the solution to ineffective govt.

But it's probably in your own self-interest to pile on the insurance companies hoping nobody will notice doctors and hospitals make comparatively more money in the US, too.

I do know govt is a big part of the problem. That's why I listed them as one of the three big players in the problem, genius. Now show me where I asked for more government. 

Trying to rationalize why profits aren't profits again?