There is no more expensive or worse performing healthcare system in the developed world than the one we have here in the good'ol USA. This is a long-documented fact and the accumulated data in incontrovertible.
Canadians do pay more in taxes that include full healthcare services (for non-discretionary care) but that amounts to far less money per year spent by individuals and families-- A LOT LESS MONEY. There are no onerous co-pays, deductibles, out-of-network charges, (now a racket here in the USA), and wasted time.
MillerCarbon -- the US system (save for the VA) is a private and largely "for-profit" system run by corporate predators. MediCare is a hybrid system with the government controlling payments for privately rendered services. There are no rational or logical explanations that explain the cost differentials here vs. everywhere else other than price gouging and market manipulation.
I have seen other systems in other countries and know how they work-- compared to France, England, Germany, and Demark-- the ones I'm familiar with-- ours is a very bad and a very sad joke. I'm sure we can all think of someone that went through the US healthcare meatgrinder and profit extractor of a system and either ended up dead, worse off, broke, or some combination of the above.
If most Americans actually knew just how badly they were being screwed over by our system they would be livid. Trying not to think about it is a defense for many-- but that won't help you much when you really need it.
As far as comments on COVID being an over-blown hoax with a death rate (didn't Kurt Russel star in that movie?) that was cribbed from other categories of mortality-- that is just not true. This theory was examined by scientists and epidemiologists and rejected.
COVID was the third leading cause of death in the US in 2020 (and maybe even 2021) just under heart disease and cancer-- but those are diseases that often take decades to play out.
Although I often appreciate MillerCarbon's passion for audio, his skepticism, and humor, he's got some of it wrong with respect to COVID. It is not a killer that hides in the background noise of public health data-- it's one of the most lethal viruses ever to infect humans-- because it is so contagious and because it can hide and spread wildly through asymptomatic people.
It also leaves behind loads of long-lasting to permanent chronic problems.
Compared to the common flu-- COVID is more than one order of magnitude more lethal. Never forget that. Don't believe the politicized arguments-- just follow the science and public health data and then make your mind up.
Canadians do pay more in taxes that include full healthcare services (for non-discretionary care) but that amounts to far less money per year spent by individuals and families-- A LOT LESS MONEY. There are no onerous co-pays, deductibles, out-of-network charges, (now a racket here in the USA), and wasted time.
MillerCarbon -- the US system (save for the VA) is a private and largely "for-profit" system run by corporate predators. MediCare is a hybrid system with the government controlling payments for privately rendered services. There are no rational or logical explanations that explain the cost differentials here vs. everywhere else other than price gouging and market manipulation.
I have seen other systems in other countries and know how they work-- compared to France, England, Germany, and Demark-- the ones I'm familiar with-- ours is a very bad and a very sad joke. I'm sure we can all think of someone that went through the US healthcare meatgrinder and profit extractor of a system and either ended up dead, worse off, broke, or some combination of the above.
If most Americans actually knew just how badly they were being screwed over by our system they would be livid. Trying not to think about it is a defense for many-- but that won't help you much when you really need it.
As far as comments on COVID being an over-blown hoax with a death rate (didn't Kurt Russel star in that movie?) that was cribbed from other categories of mortality-- that is just not true. This theory was examined by scientists and epidemiologists and rejected.
COVID was the third leading cause of death in the US in 2020 (and maybe even 2021) just under heart disease and cancer-- but those are diseases that often take decades to play out.
Although I often appreciate MillerCarbon's passion for audio, his skepticism, and humor, he's got some of it wrong with respect to COVID. It is not a killer that hides in the background noise of public health data-- it's one of the most lethal viruses ever to infect humans-- because it is so contagious and because it can hide and spread wildly through asymptomatic people.
It also leaves behind loads of long-lasting to permanent chronic problems.
Compared to the common flu-- COVID is more than one order of magnitude more lethal. Never forget that. Don't believe the politicized arguments-- just follow the science and public health data and then make your mind up.