Andy ShamelJan 6, 2023
William Ray

If anyone ever tries to convince you that your nation would be better served by a private health insurance system, rather than having government managed healthcare, that person is your enemy. They are trying to kill you.

Sincerely,
Someone paying 10x as much for Insulin.

Jan 5, 2023 at 9:02pmWeb
Show threadInsertUserJan 6, 2023
@VerinEmpire dunno, places like the Netherlands and Japan have insurance and healthcare that's actually affordable.
Show threadHolly 🇨🇦Jan 6, 2023
@InsertUser @VerinEmpire … bc the govts of those countries make sure they are affordable and have laws in place that the insurance companies have to accept all applicants.
Show threadBroGleJan 10, 2023
@VerinEmpire @Yup_Its_Holly @InsertUser “the laws in place” is the reason why it works
Show threadJames J MalcolmJan 6, 2023
@InsertUser @VerinEmpire yep, through price ceilings, profit % ceilings, Cost/Quality assessments & 100% acceptance rules
Show threadJames J MalcolmJan 6, 2023

@InsertUser @VerinEmpire
Fun fact: the current Dutch healthcare system was designed by a Minister of Health who was a physician (Els Borst).

The old system was a mix of public (with long queues) and private (expensive).

She and the civil servants designed the system to make sure doctors, Insurrance, etc all had the right incentives to achieve quality at affordable rates. It’s quite ingenious and made sure that healthcare costs didn’t continue to rise as quickly.

Show threadWilliam RayJan 6, 2023
@InsertUser
I used Japanese healthcare plenty of times. They have national (government) insurance, which I know because they always apologized to me that I'd have to pay because I didn't have it. Anyone who characterizes that as being the same as the private system Americans have is ignorant or lying.
Show threadInsertUserJan 6, 2023

@VerinEmpire I said nothing about Americans. They have about half a dozen problems all compounding each other. If my reading of the Dutch system is correct the government effectively acts as a backer to the private insurance companies. I got the impression from residents online that Japan was similar but maybe it's structured differently.

Recently had reminders in the news of how much single payer can screw it's workers so feeling rather cynical on that at the moment.

Show threadInc Hulk 🧪Jan 6, 2023
@InsertUser @VerinEmpire This is simply untrue (or a gross misrepresentation of the truth).
Show threadVelJan 6, 2023
@VerinEmpire i live in Australia and would never want the US system- the max price for govt pharmaceutical drugs is 30 AUD- around 20 USD.
Show threadPeter RelphJan 6, 2023

@VerinEmpire

You are never better served by a private anything.
Nothing ever is better private.
America went off the rails with that from Day One.

Show threadMattJan 6, 2023
@peterrelph2 @VerinEmpire private enterprise works best by killing off the weak.
If there are 20 nail bars on your high street and one goes bust, no problem.
If the NHS goes bust and there isn't ANOTHER NHS (or two) to turn to, that's a problem that shouldn't be allowed to happen.
#FundTheNHS
Show threadrick_rampal23Jan 6, 2023
@VerinEmpire well said, now to get the other's to see it!!
Show threadBlueShiftNZJan 6, 2023
@VerinEmpire
10x as much? You pay $50 every 3 months? Harsh. $5 prescription fee in New Zealand. Dr visit a couple times a year, $45.
It's not perfect, but very, very few people go bankrupt from medical expenses.
Show threadTrikkittJan 6, 2023
@blueshiftnz @VerinEmpire NZ like the UK has prescriptions that flatten the cost of medication to a single fee no matter the medication cost. In the USA pharmaceutical companies have a list price for medication that is crazy high, insurance companies then negotiate that down by a similar crazy amount. The only people who don't get a discount are those who don't have insurance cover. Meaning the OP gets totally screwed over.
Show threadBobaJan 6, 2023
@blueshiftnz @VerinEmpire $50 a month is the low range for insulin in the USA. Many people must pay hundreds of dollars or close to $1000, or get their insulin from another country.
Show threadRev. Lunar 🜏Ⓐ🖤Jan 6, 2023
@blueshiftnz @VerinEmpire $50/month after insurance, if you're lucky. The statement my mom got a few months ago showed the insulin price as $5,000/pen and each pen lasted about a week.
Show threadWilliam RayJan 6, 2023
@blueshiftnz
😂
Man, don't I -wish-. Ten times more is based on the worldwide average. I have expensive health insurance that's better than most folks here, but I'm at $100/month... which itself is a steal, considering the same insulin costs about $1500/month without insurance. People are literally dying from the cost of insulin in the US.
Show threadFranck LeroyJan 6, 2023
@VerinEmpire We should go beyond than just public healthcare. There should be public pharmaceutical industries, producing basic medicines at raw cost.
Show threadSimon BrookeJan 6, 2023
@VerinEmpire In Scotland (as in other civilised countries), necessary medicines are free.
Show threadRussell 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇺🇦🍉Jan 6, 2023
@VerinEmpire True!
Show threadHenrikJan 6, 2023
@VerinEmpire wait? Are you paying for insulin?
Show threadCarlos GalloJan 6, 2023
@VerinEmpire 👏👏👏
Show threadCarlos GalloJan 6, 2023

@VerinEmpire 👏👏👏

In Brazil, we have SUS - Sistema Único de Saúde. The largest government-run public health care system in the world.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistema_%C3%9Anico_de_Sa%C3%BAde

Sistema Único de Saúde - Wikipedia

Show threadHmmmJan 6, 2023
@VerinEmpire Interestingly, if you are covered by private health insurance, and you are in hospital, having a serious post surgical complication, and they can’t contact your doctor, there is not another doctor in the whole town who will ‘take over’ your case. Or, in the worst case scenario, write out your death certificate. Nice thought isn’t it? Cheers.
Show threadInc Hulk 🧪Jan 6, 2023
@VerinEmpire Only 10x... If you need cream for lip-sores, the UK go to the pharmacy and buy if for ~£6. In the USA, first get a prescription (you pay the Dr, and the drug company give him a cut), then you can buy it at ~$600.
Approx 100x as much for the same thing - almost all is profit shared out at the different levels of administration by drug company, insurance, Drs and pharmacy (and of course the corrupt politicians & lawyers who make sure the law maintains the status quo)
Show threadStroomAfwaarts 🌱Jan 6, 2023

@VerinEmpire
Privatisation is always sold as "better service for cheaper, because of competition on the market". But it only worked in the telecom market, because phone companies aren't selling anything mandatory (like health insurance) or can't hold you hostage somehow (like electricity, health etc).

Some things shouldn't be a market at all.

Show threadWulfgoldJan 6, 2023
@VerinEmpire guessing you're American - has Biden not just taken steps to limit Insulin prices for the elderly over there?
It's pretty horrifying that something I need to keep me alive - I just went to collect for the "cost" of a short walk to my local Pharmacy.
Show threadMaggie GordonJan 6, 2023
@VerinEmpire @alisonphipps Our daughter lives in The US. She was a cardiac support nurse in the hospital owned by her insurance company. I have many, many stories about the reality of insured folk literally running their lives to pay for their insurance. Here, our close friend in London was left with type 1 diabetes after a stroke. He is utterly terrified of not being able to pay for his insulin. We are beyond the mirror now and in the hands of those who have no care for others.
Show threadChris AndersonJan 7, 2023

@VerinEmpire or it works fine for them and they don't realize there are problems with insulin in the current system?

Or maybe they pay for it too, but still believe in privatization? It's a long jump to say they want to kill you :|

Show threadWilliam RayJan 7, 2023
@chrisanderson
Ultimately, the choice depends on how much a healthcare provider's reckless indifference to your death you're willing to accept as a useful distinction.
Show threadJon RJan 7, 2023
@VerinEmpire To be fair, they may not be actively trying to kill you. They may just be trying to make a ton of money and don’t care if you die in the process.
Show threaddfs Jan 8, 2023

@VerinEmpire Canada's system is not bad. The government funds healthcare, but doesn't directly run it.

Unfortunately, our system is cracking under strain of not enough doctors and nurses and not enough funding. This isn't because it's a public system, but because governments aren't taking good care of it, and because it's much too hard for foreign-trained medical professionals to qualify in Canada (among other problems.)

Show threadABOLISH PRIVATE HEALTHCARE!⚫Jan 9, 2023
@VerinEmpire I'm T2 diabetic (on insulin) and need regular medication. Can't afford private health care. If you have a med condition you will be #uninsurable if #NHSPrivatisation continues. I fear for my life. WE NEED TO BE ON THE STREETS! Pls sign/share my petition. https://chng.it/zBBfzShwXk
Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?

UK Gov! Put an end to NHS privatisation. An insurance-based system is unworkable.

Change.org
Show threadAutisticMumTo3Jan 10, 2023
@VerinEmpire
Currently in the UK under the NHS those with diabetes needing medicine to control it can get a medical exemption from prescription charges. As a result diabetics can get glucose testing strips, insulin, lancets, needles and other diabetic medication for free.
Show threadWilliam RayJan 10, 2023
@AutisticMumTo3
And it's not just diabetics! UK healthcare spending is 12% of their GDP, but Americans spend a whopping 18% of our economy and get worse results and shorter life expectancy.🤷‍♂️
Show threadAutisticMumTo3Jan 10, 2023
@VerinEmpire
Agreed. Here in the UK free meds are available for certain conditions and for benefits claimants on means tested benefits, except Housing & council tax benefits and higher earners amongst those who claim Universal Credit, or those who have got a certificate proving they are on what is considered to be a low enough income.
Show threadsofia ☮️🏴Jan 11, 2023
@VerinEmpire the insulin monopoly is created by governments, making insulin unnessecary expensive all over the world…
Show threadJoe ᔪᐊᐣJan 12, 2023
@VerinEmpire someone once told me that he didn't see why the society should pay for my HIV medication since HIV resulted, quote ‘in a failure from my part and I should take responsibility in it‚
Show threadWilliam RayJan 12, 2023
@johann
Yeah, the delusions on a lot of these folks last right up until they're caught in trouble themselves, and then it shifts right into blame; never mind planning ahead, they just skip the 'doing something about it' stage entirely.😞