Is it even possible for health care to bankrupt us?
When we spend money on health care, that money stays in the US doesn't it? All those doctors and nurses and so on, aren't they all employed right here in the US? It's not something that we could outsource to China. So if health care costs just kept skyrocketing out of control, doesn't that just mean the health care industry in the US is very successful? Explain both why and why not.
Politics - 12 Answers
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1 :
Population growth means more people will need to be covered, and premiums (monthly costs) keep rising artificially by insurance agencies. Medicare and Medicaid are very expensive for the federal government to maintain, which what the previous Obamacare bill attempted to rein in. But it didnt work, so he proposed a more modest bill. You can find it at http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting
2 :
I don't see how it will help the economy if its supposedly better
3 :
lol...you do realize that it is doctors and lawyers that Obama is raising taxes on (the wealthy) as a way to get money for health care don't you?........and you think the doctors and hospitals won't raise their prices?..........think again.......it is a never ending increase in health care costs to the average person........
4 :
So some people get rich while others go bankrupt. That is what we have now. We need some serious reform, as most of us are tired of paying twice as much as other economically similar countries for equivalent benefits. By the way, economics is not a zero-sum game. The system could indeed collapse from money exchanging hands internally.
5 :
With our current health care model that pays for health care, we cannot sustain paying higher and higher premiums, get denied health care because we cost too much , get knocked off our plan for ridiculous reasons, all in the name of making more profit for the giants of health insurance. Their record quarterly profit is putting a face on the greed in Wall Street and the lack of care for people who need care, but can't afford the high prices.
6 :
Why don't you ask that question to my best friend who's child was diagnosed with cancer. He had a good job making $400,000 a year and health insurance. He went bankrupt in just 3 years.
7 :
Well considering the US currency is the unit other countries base their currency on. America will not actually go bankrupt. THey can simply print money and pay off the debts with a diluted $$$, that is my guess of what will happen just as soon as inflation hits the fan. And no to your answer, the health industry only profits around 3 to 4 %. Even as their rates go higher. SO the rate going up, does not mean they are making so much money.
8 :
No. But it will force doctors and hospitals to suck it up, so to speak.
9 :
Medicare and Medicaid are ALREADY bankrupting us.
10 :
Private health insurance cannot bankrupt us, but GOVERNMENT HEALTH CARE CAN. Explanation----one can shop for private health insurance if this frigging administration would pass a bill to allow it which would create competition which will lower the premiums.This happens with EVERY COMMODITY. But if you have universal health care, there is NO COMPETITION and the government --thru taxes--have to pay all of the costs for EVERYONE, which would bankrupt this country. No country, this size, has ever had universal health care.Smaller countries are in serious financial state for this very reason
11 :
Health care is 15% of the GDP in the US economy compared to 10% GDP in the Canadian economy. From a purely economic perspective this shows an inefficient allocation of resources considering the US system insures 85% of the population while the Canadian system insures 100% of the population! Also considering that 60% of all bankruptcies filed in the US are due to inability to pay medical bills, it can't bankrupt everybody but how much of the population do you include when you say "us"?
12 :
Since 1974, Hawaii has required all employers to provide relatively generous health care benefits to any employee who works 20 hours a week or more. This is a state where regular milk sells for $8 a gallon, gasoline costs $3.60 a gallon and the median price of a home in 2008 was $624,000 — the second-highest in the nation. Despite this, Hawaii’s health insurance premiums are nearly tied with North Dakota for the lowest in the country, and Medicare costs per beneficiary are the nation’s lowest.
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