Suggested Discussion Outline - An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back by Elisabeth Rosenthal – For July 12

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TRUE CONSERVATISM REQUIRES THE ENACTMENT OF
SINGLE-PAYER HEALTHCARE (e.g., MEDICARE FOR ALL)!!!

Our focus-book confirmed what we already knew --

A. The percentage of American Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) spent on healthcare “is more than twice the average of developed countries”!!!

B. The U.N.’s World Health Organization ranks “the health system performance” of the U.S. as only 37th in the world -- which means that since there are only 35 members of the OECD, American healthcare is outranked BY AT LEAST TWO THIRD-WORLD COUNTRIES!!!”

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None of the ideas being discussed currently in Congress would significantly impact this sad state of affairs.

Which is no surprise because YOU CAN BE CERTAIN that the $500 million/year spent by lobbyists for the healthcare industry (which is about FOUR TIMES the amount spent on lobbying by the next-most-active industry -- oil & gas) is aimed at perpetuating and expanding the outrageous practices described in our focus book.

And trying to fight those practices WITHOUT a SINGLE PAYER healthcare system (e.g., Medicare for All) will CONTINUE to be the equivalent of fighting a raging forest fire with a squirt gun.

After all, why should the enactment of any new laws be expected to have any effect in the light of all of the existing anti-trust laws and patent-law requirements that have been ignored for decades???

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WHY TRUE CONSERVATISM REQUIRES ENACTMENT OF “MEDICARE FOR ALL”

[For more detail than follows below, please read the Suggested Discussion Outline posted in this section, followed by “Saving the US Gov $300 BILLION/year with ‘Medicare For All’” which is also posted in this section.]

But in short --

What all 34 of the world’s other industrialized countries (which have better healthcare at half the cost) have in common is a SINGLE PAYER healthcare system that does NOT tolerate the waste/illegalities described in our focus book.

So that if those costs can be cut in half to bring them in line with the rest of the civilized world, quality U.S. healthcare could be provided 100%-free at NO ADDITIONAL GOVERNMENTAL COST.

(1) The Suggested Discussion Outline recorded that the 2015 U.S. Census documented that 55.7% of the American population has employment-based insurance. Since the cost of such insurance is deductible to the employer and non-taxable to the employee, then a good estimate of the cost of this insurance to the U.S. government would be the 35% corporate income tax rate * 55.7% of the population = 19.50% of the economy’s total current healthcare costs.

(2) The Suggested Discussion Outline recorded that the 2015 U.S. Census also documented the following percentages of the American population receive healthcare from --

19.6% - Medicaid
16.3% - Medicare
4.7% - Military including the V.A.
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40.6% – Sub-Total
19.5% - Percentage of economy’s total healthcare costs financed by reduced employer taxes
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60.1% - Total of economy’s total healthcare costs currently financed by the U.S. government
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Accordingly, it is respectfully suggested that a SINGLE PAYER healthcare system (e.g. Medicare for All) should cut American healthcare costs in half -- bringing them in line with the rest of the civilized world!!!

And since the U.S. Government already pays 60.1% of all U.S. healthcare costs, a SINGLE PAYER healthcare system should produce a 10.1% overall savings (60.1% - 50%).

And since our author trumpeted in almost every chapter that American healthcare costs exceed $3 TRILLION, a 10.1% overall savings should produce a U.S. Governmental spending REDUCTION of $303 BILLION/year.

SO IF TRUE CONSERVATISM MEANS REDUCING THE SIZE AND COST OF GOVERNMENT, WHY ISN’T IT OBVIOUS TO OUR POLS THAT TRUE CONSERVATISM REQUIRES THE ENACTMENT OF “MEDICARE FOR ALL”???
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