Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

New-Vegetable-1274 t1_iwqotbc wrote

Before 2010, America had the absolute best healthcare in the world, Best in every conceivable category especially the cost. Along came talk about the Affordable Care Act and people were gushing over the idea. They were enthralled with the new president/messiah who promised so much and delivered nothing. I knew we were in trouble even before Obamacare became the law of the land. It hadn't got much press here at first but it did in Canada. A cousin in Quebec called me to warn me, she said that it was like deja vu. Everything she saw on American television was exactly the same BS Canada had used to promote Canadian Medicare (their health system). I remember something particularly chilling she said then, she said, "people die in the ERs up here, wait times can be days." I told her that sounded a bit exaggerated, she swore it was not. They live close to the US border and for a time were shopping here for prescription drugs but that fell apart after 2014. So when people are blowing rainbows out their ass over some new government program, beware.

−15

HongPong t1_iwr4jwk wrote

life expectancy was still lower in the US in 2010 than a lot of other places. this is not accurate.

7

New-Vegetable-1274 t1_iwrnmg9 wrote

Life expectancy isn't soley based on the quality of health care there are many more factors. In industrialized nations there are millions of things that affect one's health. Prior to the ACA if you were a senior citizen that required life saving medical treatment like an organ transplant you had a reasonable expectation of receiving that treatment. Now you'll be told to go home and get your affairs in order because you are going to die. The best you can expect is pain management if needed and hospice care. That is the reality of the ACA. The political liability of what some called death panels inspired some creative editing, the panels remain, their existence just got buried in other language. Life and death decisions are still based on the bottom line. You can dig and google that all you want and you won't find it but it will become very apparent if you develop a life changing illness. I have a dear friend who has an aggressive cancer that is deemed terminal in any stage in which it's diagnosed. There are some treatments that are not a cure but have been proven to extend the patients life expectancy and improve the quality of life. Apparently these treatments are very expensive. My friend was informed that they don't qualify for the treatment because they are unable to share the cost of treatment.

−5