The Cato Institute put out an analysis last week intended to terrify America of the DSA agenda.

Unfortunately for them, math was not on their side.

  • 🌞 Alexander Daychilde 🌞@lemmy.world
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    7 days ago

    I remember when cost was at least a valid part of the debate - when public was projected to cost more than private. But it was still worth it to give healthcare to EVERYONE.

    Now, it’s just ridiculously cheaper to go univesal, but the fascists don’t like it.

    • TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca
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      6 days ago

      Has there ever existed a time when anyone with any actual economic merit thought that private was less costly than public?

      • 🌞 Alexander Daychilde 🌞@lemmy.world
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        6 days ago

        I don’t remember exactly when the projections flipped, but yes. Something like 20-25 years ago, the public option was projected to cost more. Then it became about the same, and now it’s projected to be less.

        • TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca
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          6 days ago

          Weird cause 25 years ago it was still free in the entire industrialized world minus the usa

          • 🌞 Alexander Daychilde 🌞@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            No it wasn’t. It was free to the end user. Or do you think every medical person donated their time and every medicine producer volunteered their time?

            What a ridiculous reply.

            • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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              6 days ago

              Free to the end user, that’s a rediculous thing to say as well. So if I go get treatment I can stop paying taxes for the rest of my life… Sheesh, sounds great.

              • TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca
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                5 days ago

                Free to end user/free at point of use is exactly how these systems are described by the countries themselves that use them

              • 🌞 Alexander Daychilde 🌞@lemmy.world
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                6 days ago

                Only if you have the memory of a goldfish. The context of this conversation was about whether or not private sector medical care in the United States was cheaper or more expensive than public sector medical care.

                Neither one of those is free. Things cost money.

                It’s not that you don’t have a point, it’s not that you’re not correct in some contexts because you are. The problem is what you’re saying has absolutely nothing to do with this conversation in any way whatsoever.

              • 🌞 Alexander Daychilde 🌞@lemmy.world
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                6 days ago

                Can’t keep up with the context of the conversation because neither one of you people understands what the hell we’re talking about. Go have your own conversation about stuff. I bet you’ll find. I probably agree with 90% of whatever you believe. But none of it has to do with the conversation we’re having here

                • TheJesusaurus@piefed.ca
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                  5 days ago

                  In the interest of pretending you’re coming at this in good faith, it should have been very obvious to you in context that I of course meant free at point of use. You suddenly pivoting to assuming I meant healthcare in the developed world was LITERALLY FREE involving thousands of volunteer doctors and drug manufacturers is so obviously absurd that for you to genuinely make that statement means you are either woefully ignorant and uninformed or deliberately making a strawman argument.

                  You don’t seem woefully ignorant to me so I assumed the latter.

                  My point was, 25 years ago it was still the case that the US was spending more money JUST IN TAXES than Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Australia, NZ, or anyone else that was providing universal coverage. Before even talking about private costs in the USA.

                  Therefore to me the idea that such a system could possibly be considered cheaper, by any economic reckoning or fuckery whatsoever, doesn’t really stand to reason.

                  As a reminder, 25 years ago was 2001, not like, 1982

                  • 🌞 Alexander Daychilde 🌞@lemmy.world
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                    5 days ago

                    Good faith? This all stems from my top level comment, which I will remind was:

                    I remember when cost was at least a valid part of the debate - when public was projected to cost more than private. But it was still worth it to give healthcare to EVERYONE.

                    Now, it’s just ridiculously cheaper to go univesal, but the fascists don’t like it.

                    What part of that makes you think I was ever talking about the cost at the point of service?

                    And I’m thoroughly aware of the timeframe I was talking about. I’m 51 years old. I became an adult in 1993. I am aware of politics from at least that time (more vaguely aware as a child, but quite aware as an adult).

                    So I don’t know where the hell you got the conversation wrong, but it ain’t me. :P

                    All that aside, a quick thanks for keeping going with it. I have a feeling we’re getting close to figuring out where things went wrong. lol. I feel like I haven’t made mistakes so far here, but depends on what you reply with, I suppose. It sounds like I was talking the actual total cost, period, for healthcare in the US (because that was the debate and the point I was talking about), not where it costs and who it costs, and it sounds like you were on another page. lol. But we’ll see if that makes sense.