r/Eugene 3d ago

Oregon's transition to Universal Healthcare: the first state?

/r/oregon/comments/1hstcnp/oregons_transition_to_universal_healthcare_the/
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u/TheRisingValkyrie 3d ago

Universal health care is a tax increase. We already pay the same if not more in taxes than countries that already have universal health care without factoring in our medical expenses and cost for plans. I currently don't have insurance because it's gotten so out of hand.

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u/throwawaypickle777 3d ago

Well my insurance is $376 every 2 weeks all year. That’s $9776 for my share of it which is 25% of the premium. So my employer pays just south of $40K. So would that be worse If it was a “tax”? Money is money? Because as it stands I have to pay 10% of my income to ask some dimwits in an office who have no medical degrees if I can please have my prescription every 3 months.

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u/TheRisingValkyrie 3d ago

I am uninsured because it'd cost me $1200/mo to be on insurance as someone with chronic illness and disability. The tax will not be nearly as high as deductibles, medical expenses, and your share...and I would hope less corrupt companies would consider putting that 40K back into their staff if they no longer need to pay that.

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u/OOkami89 3d ago

You think that the government is suddenly going to do right by it’s people?

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u/TheRisingValkyrie 3d ago

Oh hell no are you kidding? 

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u/OOkami89 3d ago

Then we can know for certain that this would fail many people

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u/AxOfBrevity 3d ago

We know for a fact that our current system fails many people.

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u/OOkami89 3d ago

And this will just make it worse.

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u/AxOfBrevity 3d ago

...you assume.

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u/OOkami89 3d ago

Nah I know. Because if the government wanted to help it could have overhauled SSI and disability by now. The VA is already a mini universal healthcare and it will delay treatments until folk die.

The system can’t be made better

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u/Van-garde 3d ago

Simply looking outside of the US offers many examples of better systems for population-level outcomes. If you’re wealthy enough to pay for care out of pocket, the US is good. But if you want care to be more accessible and generally higher quality/less expensive (meaning greater value for one’s dollars), South Korea, Germany, Taiwan, NZ, Japan, ‘Scandinavia,’ Switzerland, Belgium, Nederland, France, AUS, Spain, Canada…and dozens of other countries of various sizes and wealth outperform us.

Why are you so opposed?

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u/OOkami89 3d ago

Those countries are irrelevant and plenty in those countries have spoken out on the wait times.

I am opposed because I know firsthand and quite intimately that the government is neither kind nor competent.

What the government does with the VA, SSI and disability is proof that this will end poorly.

I haven’t a clue as to how any sane and rational person can see what the Government does with what we have and think “this time it will be different”. I mean that genuinely, I very much don’t know how anyone can be fooled when the evidence is so obvious.

I get that it sounds good in theory but not the seemingly denial of reality.

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u/Van-garde 3d ago edited 3d ago

I think you’re generalizing from your specific circumstance. If, so, I’m sorry you’ve been wronged, and things will get better if we move away from the expensive, highly-profitable system we’re currently stuck with.

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