And insurance companies add nothing to healthcare. They contribute nothing. They streamline nothing. And THEY are the ones who make your health care decisions for you, NOT your doctor.
Got a back problem that could be easily fixed by surgury? Well screw that, insurance isn't paying for that. But they'll be happy to put you on painkillers for the rest of your life so you'll be stuck in a parasitic relationship where you have pay them forever to afford your pain meds.
They only exist to transfer wealth from sick, financially vulnerable people to the billionaire class.
I live in Sweden, had a surgery for a back problem. From first consultation to surgery 5 weeks. Total cost: $50, that includes surgery, prescribed meds, food while admitted.
Think of the knock off effects of universal health care beyond paying less.
you would not be tied to a shitty job anymore - your ability to quit and move to another company becomes easier
You could quit your job and start your own company since now you don't have to worry about medical bankruptcy
Or maybe you live a minimal enough of a life that you could quit your job that you have only because of the health insurance and go do something that is fulfilling to you?
Not having to formulate all those packages with their arcane coverage percentages, exclusions and deductibles would eliminate a lot of cost, not to mention all the marketing the companies do to make their plans sound better than the others.
My insurance payment + my jobs contribution (can't say whether or not they lie on the form about their share) is over a thousand per month. And I still have co-pays and shit that isn't covered. I've had a couple of X-rays and and a sling this year. I'm probably out another $2k on top of my insurance. It would be much cheaper for me to pay out of pocket and save the difference for a rainy day.
It's also a way to make sure people don't leave crappy jobs or, even worse, start their own businesses that might compete against the already established ones.
When I was in grad school, I went to a conference in Portugal. One of the other American grad students slipped on a paving stone and bust his leg. It wasn't that bad, but he was freaking out because he had no idea how European insurance worked and he was afraid he'd be in serious debt. Everyone at the hospital thought that was hilarious. Why would getting hurt put you in debt? They patched him up for no charge. In theory he could have gone to some office and made a modest payment, but nobody was going to actually make him do that.
Accurate portrayal of Joe Lieberman in that pic. Didn’t feel bad when that dude died. The cherry on top would have been if he’d had tons of medical debt when he went, but I’m sure he still had million in the bank from all that lobby loot.
What's worse...I can bet most people employee contribution to their healthcare is higher than 5% of their paycheck. It's obscene we don't have universal healthcare yet.
Back in Australia it was a flat $35 for a PCP visit. A $35 office visit copay with 100% coverage and no deductible is functionally the same.
Our healthcare here in the US is a brutal costly joke. It instantly disproves any claims that our leaders make to care about the welfare of US citizens.
Man, you guys should really vote for a candidate who advocates for universal health care. Currently, the only candidate who is doing anything in that direction is Jill Stein. Vote Stein!
As usual with those sorts of memes, the numbers are completely wrong. European nations spend around 11-12% of GDP on healthcare vs about 17% for the US. So you'd likely pay significantly less (about 30% less) with a similar public healthcare system, but far more than this pic pretends.
Remember kids, don't believe everything you see on the internet.
Government can't manage anything. Look at social security, it's always on the verge of running out of money. Why would people think they can manage healthcare? Medicare and medicaid are terribly expensive parts of the annual budget, and they only cover some of the population.