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The war topic came up in the first post. Shouldn't be a shock that it continues to be talked about as an aside.
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Letterboxd
Constitutional argument - public healthcare is protected right
Can somebody please reply to this post in this thread? Thank you. 
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Meant to reply to this earlier:
Oh sure, that part is common sense. It's the additional claim that these benefits outweigh the costs that I'm asking about, because the massive size of healthcare spending makes this quite a tall order. And whether or not public healthcare spending even leads to a healthier workforce is far from established, as well.
Yes, but not always. Some jobs include health insurance, and some don't. The ones that do obviously consist of correspondingly lower salaries, so it's really just a layer of abstraction (much in the same way any purportedly "free" benefit is).
However, the government has, for quite a long time now, given a tax benefit to employer-provided health insurance (as opposed to insurance purchased by individuals). This has heavily distorted the market towards employer-based care, which in turn has affected the jobs market, because suddenly losing your job means losing your healthcare. In other words, healthcare is filled with half-measures and arbitrary incentives that heavily distort the market.
A fine point. But then the question becomes: why don't individuals care enough to take these precautions? They have the greatest incentive of all. And it probably relates (among other things) to what I mentioned above, about incentivizing employer-based insurance over individually purchased insurance.
The thing I'm getting at is that it seems perplexing to think of health care as some kind of external good that government needs to take on, because there are plenty of reasons for individuals and businesses alike to care about. So if they don't seem to, it suggests there's a problem elsewhere in the system, not that health care is one of those rare things that we all need, but don't have individual reason to care about.
There's no real hard evidence that I'm using here, it just seems like a common sense theory that healthcare available at a lower cost for everyone = stronger workforce, greater productivity and profits for companies, more people being employed etc.
And private businesses might recognise it, I'm not sure how it works in America, but don't companies provide their employees with healthcare schemes?
However, the government has, for quite a long time now, given a tax benefit to employer-provided health insurance (as opposed to insurance purchased by individuals). This has heavily distorted the market towards employer-based care, which in turn has affected the jobs market, because suddenly losing your job means losing your healthcare. In other words, healthcare is filled with half-measures and arbitrary incentives that heavily distort the market.
Otherwise, a basic level of healthcare for everyone would fail to be provided because the costs are too long term and apply for a variety of things, not just work in a specific job, a healthier work force would be something that would develop over a larger period of time and they wouldn't expect greater results, there's also not a guarantee that these workers will be working for them for long enough, also what about those unemployed and struggling for jobs, companies are unlikely to want to fork out high initial costs for them in return for work, it's not a short term solution but more a long term economic one.
The thing I'm getting at is that it seems perplexing to think of health care as some kind of external good that government needs to take on, because there are plenty of reasons for individuals and businesses alike to care about. So if they don't seem to, it suggests there's a problem elsewhere in the system, not that health care is one of those rare things that we all need, but don't have individual reason to care about.
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I guess I'll bump this thread because healthcare is in the news again in the U.S.
I'm trying to get a feel for the politics of this board, and I figured this would be the best way.
I don't think healthcare (or education) should be a protected right, simply because a right shouldn't impose an obligation on another person. Freedom of speech (for example), besides non interference, imposes no burden on other people.
I think the Affordable Care Act has screwed over far more people than its helped, and though unfortunately Trump has to be the one to repeal it, I look forward to its end.
I'm trying to get a feel for the politics of this board, and I figured this would be the best way.
I don't think healthcare (or education) should be a protected right, simply because a right shouldn't impose an obligation on another person. Freedom of speech (for example), besides non interference, imposes no burden on other people.
I think the Affordable Care Act has screwed over far more people than its helped, and though unfortunately Trump has to be the one to repeal it, I look forward to its end.
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