SeniorJunior

Lied to, we are.                                                                                                              Yoda, Senator from Dagobah             When you hear SCARY STUFF about Medicare for All, you are hearing propaganda from the for-profit health insurance companies and their plutocratic pals in the Republican Party.  Look for more reliable sources! I'm serious! A new study in The Lancet by a team of Yale epidemiologists finds that Medicare for All would save more than 68,000 lives and $450 billion in cost EVERY YEAR. Volume 395, Issue 10223 , 15–21 February 2020, Pages 524-533 Truth is Breaking Out All Over There is more and more of this truth telling about single payer. The for-profit health insurance companies have spent and are spending huge sums to keep us repeating their memes, "how are you going to pay for it?" and "socialized medicine!!" Nuts to them.   The on

Think You Are Good at Using Search Engines? Find this fact for me and you will be LIONIZED on good old SeniorJunior! * The UNFINDABLE (to me so far) Fact: Total expenditure in the U.S. on health insurance premiums to for-profit health insurance companies ????? If you search exactly that (just above^) question, you get a fine US News & World Report article, but it's still impossible to know the answer to this question. Statistica also has some answers, but EVERYBODY COMBINES HEALTH AND LIFE INSURANCE premiums for analysis. (Why do they do that?)  Much of the data is "per-capita," but omits the uninsured, etc.  I searched for this very  basic piece of information for a good hour. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd believe the for-profit health insurance companies have made a huge (and successful) effort to hide this number.  ** It's definitely huge . Combine all the employer-provided health insurance, all the privately-purch

As you who patiently wait long periods between posts know, the old Duffer is a strong supporter of single payer health insurance, my one unabashed opinion that's pro "socialism." Here's a paragraph from a May 30, '09 article in the NY Times: "Public opinion polls suggest that many consumers would like to have the choice of a public plan. But insurance companies and Republican lawmakers say a public plan could drive private insurers out of business and lead eventually to a single-payer system run by the government." The "many consumers" mentioned are in the 55-65% range, depending on how the polling questions are asked. Read the NYT article at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/health/policy/30health.html?hpw And you are invited to see the whole "Duffer Plan" on single payer and how to make it happen at http://seniorjunior.blogspot.com/search?q=single+payer

We Hear a Lot About the British, Canadian, French and Danish Systems, but not... The German health care system "The German health care system has the reputation of being the best in the world. There is an extensive network of hospitals and doctors covering even the remotest areas of Germany. Waiting lists for treatments are rare. Medical facilities are equipped with the latest technology and the statutory health insurance scheme provides nearly full cover for most medical treatments and medicines. Almost everybody in Germany has access to this system, irrespective of income or social status." It ain't perfect, but it's one helluva lot better than ours. The key is a mix of non-profit (by far the largest segment) and for-profit (for the rich, mostly) insurance companies, both rigorously regulated by the German government. Want a (rigorous, German) perspective? Check this out. Then, check out the Duffer's plan for the U.S. transit