Public health is not a priority, nor even a fleeting concern, in a country that takes unseemly pride in “rugged individualism”, which means if you can’t afford healthcare, you suffer the consequences.
Republicans have demagogued against the ACA for over a decade now, without ever offering a single legitimate plan of their own. The fact that they’ve been able to get away with this for this long on an issue of such grave importance is mind-boggling and an indictment of the media.
This is why that college in Norway -posted by @ralph_vonholst a few days ago, called its students home, referring specifically to the United States as a third world country as it pertains to healthcare.
Want to bet that there will be, sure!, no fee for the test (kit), but $X for the personnel who administered it, $Y for the analysis, $Z for the phone call about the results…
My wife & I have been commenting on the fact that we’re not in anything resembling a 1st world society for years. Statistically all the warning lights have been red, waiting for a new disease or crop blight or something big. So here we are. I suppose I’ve been “owned” by the MAGAts; I hope they all feel great.
SOME? I think all who come down with this will face big out of pocket costs. Insurance company CEOs are giddy at the thought of making their yearly numbers by September.
Not that trump* would pay attention, but Obama actually learned a good lesson as he pushed the ACA: The medical insurance companies will NEVER help by giving up any opportunity to grab more money. They are more slippery than the cliched used car salesman. “If you like your doctor you can keep him” wasn’t an off-the-cuff remark blurted out a la trump*. It came after numerous discussions with insurance companies that solemnly swore that they wouldn’t force people to change doctors. Of course, once they had a commitment they didn’t say people had to change doctors; they just cancelled policies and reinstated them…without the opportunity to keep the same doctor. Best advice? Expect the worst of America’s insurance companies, and don’t be surprised when they go even lower than you expected.
I am finally reading How The Irish Saved Civilization. There is an amusing passage decribing Roman society contradting the earlier skepric Cicero with the later passionate Augustine:
“Cicero’s even-tempered agnosticism will come as no surprise to anyone in our world who has noticed what a convenient philosophy it makes for Cicero’s contemporary children: publiicists, marketers. and all those who seek to motivate us to do what we might otherwise not think to do.”
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