Displaying 241 To 270 Of 295 Comments Is Appealing To The White Working Class Identity Politics? The point I was making is that Japan has thousands of health plans that people must join under the National Universal Healthcare System. And they appear to be a mixed bag of company based, municipal based and mutual associations. And most folk have supplemental private insurance: https://international.commonwealthfund.org/countries/japan/ This is not Single Payer as Bernie and friends propose. Since there is no Democratic Socialist country in the world and I can think of maybe only one in the past that only lasted a few years, your friends must have lived in Sandinista Nicaragua in the ‘80’s. Note again that the Social Democratic countries of Scandinavia are NOT Democratic Socialist. They are regulated market capitalist with most businesses, industries and property in general privately owned. This » Posted By Jake321 On July 26, 2019 @ 12:00 am Japan does not have a Single Payer System. It has thousands of private health insurance providers that people are mandated to join. Those who can’t afford the costs are subsidized by the government. Health insurance is NOT nationalized in Japan as Bernie’s Single Payer System would be. I have no problem with the system in Japan even though a lot of folk break the law and don’t buy private health insurance. I have no problem with Medicare especially when you buy extra private health insurance that covers the 20% of your costs not covered by Medicare. In this case, the payer and administrator becomes the private insurance company which is reimbursed by the Federal Medicare Insurance Fund plus tax revenues and fees. In practice, much of Medicare is NOT Federal Single Payer. And I have no problem with government administered and subsidized social insurance funds like SS and Unemployment Insurance. None of these are Socialist in the classic or formal sense. I spent a lot of time in this thread indicating why I support Universal Health in the US that builds on Obamacare and our current private insurance system which is subsidized by the Fed’s for those who can’t afford the insurance. Single Payer nationalizes the entire health insurance industry eliminating millions of private jobs replacing it all with a gigantic new Federal Agency. And the intent of the Democratic Socialists most pushing Single Payer is to next nationalize the entire health provider system, making our entire healthcare system a VA for All or similar to the UK’s NHS. I like Socialism in the form of consumer and worker coops and TVA. But what I don’t like is when Socialism becomes the organizing central principe of the whole National economy and society. Mostly because it always fails or stagnates and becomes dictatorial. Oh, and there is no example of a Democratic Socialist country today and has never been one that lasted more than a few years. However, there are plenty of fine Social Democratic countries. But the two systems while having similar names are poles apart. Bernie and friends are Democratic Socialists, NOT Social Democrats. They embrace a system that has had nothing but failures for a » Posted By Jake321 On July 25, 2019 @ 6:51 pm Well, that actually is what Biden is proposing. Most of the others seem to want to move us towards an NHS System by starting with Single Payer while wiping out the current private insurance system. No way that the Federal Government once it has a monopoly on paying for and controlling all Healthcare will not move to nationalize the private providers. It’s the nature of the beast. And exactly what is intended by the Democratic Socialists like Bernie. » Posted By Jake321 On July 25, 2019 @ 4:51 pm Speak for yourself. You don’t like my numbers so you counter them. I don’t like your numbers I counter them. You want to make debating points. I want to actually beat Trump and hopefully get Universal Healthcare. You want to score debating points. Oh, I’ll match your Lefty credentials any day. And have never voted Republican in my life. Don’t know about you. I’ve done my Internationalist Duty by working for years on rural development with the Sandinistas during the Contra War. And you? I’ve done billions in community development in poorer communities across the US. And you? I’ve worked on alternative energy investments for decades. And you? When I realize I’ve been wrong, I apologize and make a correction. And you? Again, park your arrogance at the door. » Posted By Jake321 On July 25, 2019 @ 2:40 pm So says you…I recall you getting this kind of bee in your bonnet on other issues. It seems to be your way. » Posted By Jake321 On July 25, 2019 @ 9:22 am You are funny misreading what I said and sticking to that even after I repeatedly corrected you. Since most advanced countries have universal healthcare that is NOT a Single Payer System as Bernie proposes, I disagree. And since Switzerland and other countries have Universal Healthcare based on a private insurance system or one with a major private insurance component with government subsidies for those in need, you are wrong. But most important, Single Payer doesn’t have a chance of passing in the US while a much cheaper in terms of new taxes Universal Health System based on the current system expanded as proposed by Biden could actually pass. » Posted By Jake321 On July 25, 2019 @ 7:58 am You are funny with your repeating that crap about me being an agent for the insurance industry. But again, enough. I’m for Universal Healthcare that can pass. You want to make an ideological point with Single Payer that will never pass. » Posted By Jake321 On July 25, 2019 @ 7:16 am I said that since some BCBS plans have gone for-profit, most Americans are no longer covered by not-for-profit healthcare coverage. Oh, it would take me pages to refute all the crap you have listed about my position on Universal Healthcare. With the first lie being that I do not support Universal Healthcare. Now that is pretty basic. And again you miss the main point. We have an existing health coverage system that is in large part not-for-profit and even so does not cover all. The major issue is how best to get Universal Healthcare passed, not how to take vengeance on those big bad capitalists. Way easier to get political support for a system that is built on the existing system and takes only about a tenth as much in new taxes then try to throwout a system employing millions that now covers a great majority of the population to have coverage for a relatively small part of the population without coverage now. And create a single centralized Federal agency that would take trillions a year in new taxes and massively increase the Federal workforce. Oh, and give a windfall to corporations who will no longer pay for employee health insurance. I want Universal Healthcare so I support the plan with by far the greatest likelihood of passing. » Posted By Jake321 On July 24, 2019 @ 8:38 pm “In 2018, 30.4 million persons of all ages (9.4%) were uninsured at the time of interview—not significantly different from 2017, but 18.2 million fewer persons than in 2010.“ https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhis/earlyrelease/insur201905.pdf What I say to people like you is park your arrogance at the door. Also, not nice to fib about others and what they post. But most important, try to focus on what the point is and what the practical goals are. The point is that most all people now have coverage of one form or another and to cover those who don’t and to improve coverage we need to try to pass Universal Healthcare. If you can’t understand that enacting an expanded ObamaCare plan, a Universal System similar to Switzerland, that will require only some 10% in new taxes compared to a Bernie type Single Payer System that will require trillions a year in new taxes, you are way more interested in the ideology of the issue (and trying to score debating points) than actually enacting healthcare for those who need it. » Posted By Jake321 On July 24, 2019 @ 8:01 pm “In 2017, 8.8 percent of people, or 28.5 million, did not have health insurance at any point during the year as measured by the CPS ASEC. The uninsured rate and number of uninsured in 2017 were not statistically different from 2016 (8.8 percent or 28.1 million).“ https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/demo/p60-264.html “…removing the imposition on them to provide health care will help them prosper and add jobs or increase wages.” That’s like what the Republicans say all the time to justify business tax cuts. And save most all the rest for someone else since if you’ve read my posts you would know that I support Universal Healthcare to deal with the less than 10% who don’t have it now and to improve coverage. You may want to make the argument something else but please not with me. The basic argument is that I support a plan that will require a tenth as much in new taxes as compared to Bernie’s Single Payer and can get the support, or at least not the opposition, of some of the biggies in healthcare like AARP, Kaiser, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the AMA, etc. Single Payer will get their vigorous opposition. And they will oppose any candidate who supports Single Payer which could hand the election to Trump. A Universal Health Plan like Biden’s that expands on ObamaCare has a chance of passing. A Single Payer Plan like Bernie’s which entirely overthrows an established multi-trillion dollar system with millions of workers and tries to replace it with a nationalized, central government agency massively increasing the Federal workforce, has zero chance of ever passing in this country. I want Universal Healthcare…in a form that can possibly be enacted. » Posted By Jake321 On July 24, 2019 @ 3:56 pm Well, if you missed it we are NOT starting from scratch. Almost 300 million people in the US already have healthcare coverage: “The percentage of people with health insurance coverage for all or part of 2017 was 91.2 percent, not statistically different from the rate in 2016 (91.2 percent). Between 2016 and 2017, the number of people with health insurance coverage increased by 2.3 million, up to 294.6 million.” https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/demo/p60-264.html Of course the Fed’s need to be involved in the funding to cover the less than 10% without coverage now and to provide for improved coverage. But to build on what we already have is a hell of a lot cheaper and will take a hell of a lot less tax money and has a hell of a better chance of being enacted than throwing out must all the current system to be replaced with a Fed Government Single Payer System which has zero chance of passing now and likely forevermore. And stop with this saying I’m a heath industry lobbyist. But yes I support and advocate for Universal Healthcare like Biden is proposing and against Bernie’s sure loser Single Payer Plan. It often seems like you are more interested in making a principled point than in reality. » Posted By Jake321 On July 24, 2019 @ 3:08 pm “According to Alliance for Advancing Nonprofit Health Care’s most recent report, about 63% of U.S. health plans with over 100,000 enrollees are nonprofit.” And then: “For more than 80 years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies have provided secure and stable healthcare coverage to people in communities across the country. BCBS grew out of a grassroots approach to a prepaid hospital plan in 1929. Today, the 36 independent and locally operated BCBS companies take what we learn from covering more than 106 million people – one in three Americans – and use that knowledge to improve our healthcare system, and the health and wellness of our local communities.” And then: “Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health plans, serving 12.3 million…” And then there are the 18 million covered by the VA. But I apologize, I hadn’t realized some BCBS insurers had become for-profit. So while most of the health plans covering 100,000 or more people are non-profit, most people are no longer covered by non-profits, just a very large proportion are. But the point remains, the issue is not the for-profit structure but the most likely way to get Universal Healthcare for all US residents. I’ll put my bets on a proposal that is supported or at least not opposed by the likes of Kaiser, BCBS (non-profit or for-profit) and AARP (in partnership with United Health for some 5 million seniors) than actively opposed by them. Why you guys don’t understand this is beyond me. Oh, I have said repeatedly I am NOT a health insurance industry lobbyist. That was an accusation made against me because I actually supported and was “lobbying” for getting Universal Healthcare in the near here-and-now with a plan like Biden’s and would not buy into Bernie’s Single Payer sure » Posted By Jake321 On July 24, 2019 @ 2:43 pm As I pointed out, most health coverage is NOT for-profit. It is like Kaiser and Blue Cross Blue Shield. They are non-profit. And I don’t give a damn if some companies also make a profit as long as we get Universal Healthcare. You would rather dump on for-profit companies at the cost of having Universal Health. As I mentioned, I’ve spent over 40 years in a field that is mixed Fed Government, nonprofit, for-profit and cooperative. By far the least efficient and cost ineffective is Fed Government. Not to mention usually poor quality. I’m into real outcomes, not the ideological purity of the process. Oh, it’s NOT related to health insurance. You misunderstand my comment. Bye bye… » Posted By Jake321 On July 23, 2019 @ 10:07 am I am a health insurance lobbyist. A Universal Healthcare Insurance one. I want all to have coverage for their healthcare with the government subsidizing those who can’t afford it. You what ideological purity that guarantees we not only won’t have Single Payer, we won’t have Medicare for All, we won’t have any form of Universal Healthcare. We’ve gone back and forth on these issues over the years and it goes nowhere. You’re wedded to the principle. I’m wedded to the reality. And with that let’s leave this for now. » Posted By Jake321 On July 23, 2019 @ 6:14 am Yep, Germany and France are Universal Healthcare with a major role for private insurance. They are NOT Single Payer. Switzerland is based on private insurance. Do note that private insurance in the US is not only for-profit but can be nonprofit, mutual, cooperative, etc. For example, Kaiser and Blue Cross Blue Shield are nonprofit. Damn, most people in the US who do not get Medicare/Medicaid/VA get it from private nonprofits. You say: “The important point is that a universal single payer system is the most cost effective healthcare system in the world. Wherever private for-profit healthcare insurance is used, the primary focus by definition is on ‘profits’, and not healthcare.” You know no such thing. First, there are very few Bernie type Single Payer systems and I’ve seen no study that says they are anymore cost effective than the other Universal Healthcare systems. And as I’ve indicated, the whole “for-profit” line is ideological since most private health insurance is NOT for-profit whether here or in most other countries. What is actually most important is getting Universal Healthcare passed in the US. And that will be way easier with a plan like Biden’s than Bernie’s Single Payer…and I know you know that. But if you don’t then just image which would be easier to pass, a plan supported or not actively opposed by the likes of Kaiser, AARP, the AMA, Blue Cross Blue Shield, etc. or actively and vigorously opposed by them. » Posted By Jake321 On July 22, 2019 @ 1:12 pm I did a longer detailed response to you which got lost somewhere in this place which didn’t keep a draft. Anyway, Switzerland is based on a system closest to our private insurance. France has a multiplayer system that is closely tied to the central government but some 85% of the population have private health insurance to supplement the inadequate basic system. Germany is a great mix of systems based on professional associations, mutuals, private insurance, etc. Google is your friend. I want Universal Healthcare so I support the one closest to our current system that takes the least new taxes and would have the broadest political support even from some of the biggies of healthcare like Kaiser and AARP. And I don’t want to push for anything that can support Trump’s Socialist canard if there is a viable alternative. Single Payer fails on all these. » Posted By Jake321 On July 21, 2019 @ 6:46 pm In Germany, Switzerland, France and many others healthcare is with private insurance with the government using tax revenues to fill in the gaps to make it universal. Our gap is 5% to 10%. So not only would a Swiss like system be way less disruptive and easier to implement than a Single Payer, it would take less than a tenth as much in new taxes to fund. Also, it would have way more political support from the public since 75% say they want Universal Health but want to keep their private insurance. And some of the biggies of healthcare will likely support it instead of opposing it. Try to get anything passed with AARP and Kaiser actively opposing it. And so what if you think Biden and I have a Republican position? Actually that’s good if it helps get us Universal Healthcare. Single Payer doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell to get enacted and will feed the Radical/Socialist claims of the Republicans. And like Impeachment that would fail, it helps Trump win. Oh, the ideology is thinking the Central Government can be more efficient than a private decentralized system of nonprofit and for-profit businesses. The VA vs. Kaiser. The Post Office vs. FedEx. On a personal note, I observed the comparison in China as they made their economic transition. The contrast was so great and one sided it was funny. And I’ve spent over 40 years in a field with on going direct comparisons between Central Government and decentralized private nonprofit and for-profit operations. The latter wins hands down. I can’t get into the details without identifying myself which I will not do. » Posted By Jake321 On July 21, 2019 @ 3:56 am Not so. The bulk of Universal Health plans are VA for All as in the UK or government subsidizing private insurance to help those in need like Switzerland, Germany and France. And the few countries with a single payer type system decentralize it to operate primarily at the state or provincial level like Australia and Canada. If you missed it, Biden’s plan would fund the added insurance for those without it and can’t afford it from taking back some of the Trump tax giveaway to the rich. And if you missed it, single payer will require some $2 TRILLION in new taxes a year and give a windfall to the corporations. Besides, it doesn’t have a chance of passing with the massive opposition it will get even from the good guys of healthcare. Again, I want to oust Trump and I want to get Universal Healthcare. I’m not interested in ideological purity or the good fight for the principle of it that is most likely to lose. » Posted By Jake321 On July 20, 2019 @ 6:49 pm Yep, as I said Single Payer is far from what most all advanced countries have. But most all have Universal Healthcare which is what I also support. And yes, Switzerland, Germany and France among many others base their Universal Healthcare on private insurance and private providers. Their healthcare costs and life expectancies are better than here and just as good as the Single Payer and Nationalized systems in other countries. Here is another situation where I would actually like to see Universal Healthcare enacted in the real world in the near term. You seem to want to make an ideological and what you see as a principled point. Anyway, expansion of Obamacare with a public option as proposed by Biden is for real and can be passed if he wins and we keep the House and pickup the Senate. If you missed it and whether you like it or not, Biden seems to have already gotten support from biggies like AARP, AMA, Kaiser, etc. for this form of Universal Healthcare. They have come out strongly against Single Payer and will oppose any candidate who supports it. And then there are the needed new taxes. One is in the tens of billions a year. Bernie’s baby is in the trillions and nothing like it has a snowballs chance in hell of passing. As an aside, campaigning on expanding Obamacare, with Switzerland as a reference if needed, with folk keeping their insurance sure sounds better than Medicaid for All or the VA for All with trillions a year in new taxes to basically extend healthcare to some 5% or so of the legal population who are not now covered and want to be. As an aside, in Canada you got emergency care as I’ve gotten in England. Oh, and we were LEGALLY there. That is NOT healthcare coverage. That is emergency care available to anyone, even an illegal. An illegal here already can get that. But they can’t get a heart transplant without paying. Same for you and me in Canada and England. » Posted By Jake321 On July 20, 2019 @ 9:18 am Google is your friend. Very few of any advanced countries have single payer Healthcare, even though most all have Universal Healthcare. Some like the U.K. have nationalized Healthcare. A VA for All. Others like Switzerland and Germany have private health insurance with the government aiding those who can’t afford the private insurance. Still others like Australia and Canada have a system that looks like single payer but is largely decentralized and run at the state or provincial government level (California would do its thing and Mississippi would do its thing). Single payer as Bernie proposes really doesn’t exist anyplace. Oh, and single payer is NOT Medicare for All since Medicare in general only covers 80%. To have full coverage, most buy private insurance and then the private insurer, NOT the Federal Government acts as the payer to the healthcare providers. Single payer is closest to Medicaid for All which has a much more restricted choice of healthcare providers. Also note that less than 10% of folk in the US are not covered by health insurance. And that includes illegal residents who are not covered in places like Canada under their system and young folk who don’t see much of a need for coverage. So what we are looking at with single payer is a central government take over of a gigantic system to add coverage for a very small percent of the population. Oh, and trillions a year in new taxes to pay for it. Now try to convince people these are not new taxes because their bosses will no longer have to pay for their insurance. Sure, those bosses will pass their health insurance savings to their workers. If you and Bernie missed it, his Single Payer would likely be a windfall to the corporations and rich on a scale equal to Trump’s tax give away. A little more Google and a wee bit less ideology I think is often a good thing. Or so says Bah Humbug Jake, the numbers guy. » Posted By Jake321 On July 20, 2019 @ 5:24 am Is Trump Currently Suffering From Dementia? Don’t know if he is suffering from his congenital dementia but we all sure are… » Posted By Jake321 On July 10, 2019 @ 3:23 pm What Does It Mean That Trump Is An Illegitimate President? Well, being an illegitimate Prez is just a subset of him being an illegitimate human being…but it is good to know that our brave Revolutionary War Patriots where able to get air superiority and also take over the airports… » Posted By Jake321 On July 5, 2019 @ 2:53 pm As of tonight, Bernie is out. Warren moves up because of last night. Biden holds his own as the decisive front runner. Speak for yourself. Lots of folk on our side like Michael Moore saw Trump winning and how that would be. My numbers showed the same possibility but I didn’t believe them and fell in with the common narrative that he would lose. The only serious candidate who can hold our base and bring back the Working Class whites who had voted for Obama looks to be Biden today. He is the only Dem with a greater lead on Trump as we got in 2018. All the rest have less. Biden is also ahead in every Dem Primary Race and even shows he might beat Trump in Texas. There is zero evidence so far that Warren has a chance against Trump. » Posted By Jake321 On June 27, 2019 @ 8:32 pm Here’s my bet based on the numbers and not on talking with many Blacks other than the professions I work with here in Oakland. Biden will not only do way better than Warren in terms of the Black vote but he will win key Primaries because of the Black vote. He will also get a greater proportion of the Black vote than any of our Black candidates and many times the number of Jewish votes than our first major Jewish candidate, Sanders…go figure… » Posted By Jake321 On June 19, 2019 @ 5:00 pm I like the thought but still a bit early to count our chickens or mice… » Posted By Jake321 On June 19, 2019 @ 4:53 pm True, but only Biden has on average a higher lead than how we did in 2018. All the rest have less. Still too early to tell much of anything. What happens with the economy, war and Impeachment can change everything… » Posted By Jake321 On June 19, 2019 @ 4:51 pm Just a couple of little examples of the unending outrageous things he has done. He gave away the top secret Israeli operations in Syria against ISIS directly to the Russian Ambassador. That is treasonous. He forcefully separated infants from their mothers in a way that many will never be reunited again. That is despicable. And he bad mouths our long time demographic allies while saying he is in love with murderous dictators. That is un-American. » Posted By Jake321 On June 18, 2019 @ 5:43 pm Matters not what your Trumpite friends say. I look at the real numbers of dozens of major polls. There will not be an Impeachment so give up that little hope. And our candidate will very likely be calm, cuddly, Unky Biden just the known experienced adult most voters are looking for to replace your Drama Queen, Enfant Terrible currently stinking up the White House… » Posted By Jake321 On June 18, 2019 @ 5:29 pm That is not “studies” it is only one study. And it is not a poll. It is a statistical survey. It is not only of registered voters. It is not only of those most likely to vote. And it was done only in English. For example, Biden does way better among Hispanics than any other candidate. There is also a relatively large error factor since it was only from their English only survey base of only about a thousand. RCP has the average of the major polls showing Biden ahead of Sanders by more than two to one in the Primaries and winning all the major Primaries they have polls on…at this time. Biden also beats Trump on average in all the swing states and even some that are usually Red. No other Dem does as well. Sanders is currently falling in the polls while Warren is moving up a bit. Biden is increasing his lead on average against Trump by a little. At this point, Biden beats Trump by a bit more than the 2018 Midterms went to the Dems. No other Dem does this yet. Again, things can change. But since Biden is our likely candidate at this point, best not to bad mouth him too much. » Posted By Jake321 On June 18, 2019 @ 5:23 pm Right, it was not your fault alone. The Electoral College did most of the harm. And then there was Comey and the Russians and the bad mouthers of both Right and Left. In addition to her being a bad candidate. But without any one of those other factors, she would be Prez and Traitor Trump would not. You should be sooooooooo proud you did your little part and sounds like you can’t wait to do the same again… » Posted By Jake321 On June 18, 2019 @ 4:46 pmComments Posted By Jake321
is hardly Socialist of any kind.
Anyway, the DSA and Bernie do embrace Socialism as a whole concept, at least as their economic and societal goal. They aren’t like me limiting my Democratic Socialism to coops, mutual associations, publicly owned utilities, etc.
century.
loser. You guys should take a deep breath and focus on what is doable and not what you think is the pure with no chance of happening any time soon. See, I want Universal Healthcare for ALL residents of the US even if it means some big bad capitalists make a buck. You guys seem to want to punish those big bad capitalists more than helping the uninsured and under-insured.
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