Know someone who died of cancer? They didn't have to.
idk man, he got diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer.
Nobody is talking about Limited Edition GigaAIDS when they're talking about Affordable Healthcare. I haven't seen a doctor in 10 years - last one tried to prescribe me a $200 antibiotic for an oral infection that was reduced to a $12 prescription when I called him from the pharmacy on his utter bullshit.
I've needed like 3 root canals since before the pandemic. Got a few grand I could borrow? "Dude you could die...", I know. Welcome to America.
Yes, health care could be a lot more affordable,
but also it would mean giving up a lot of luxury padding Americans have gotten used to. For example, you do not actually
need to be put under to have an endoscopy, which they did to me. Having the anesthesiologist there, plus his tech, plus the insurance, etc, added some retarded amount of cost onto what is not that complex a procedure.
Now, I, personally think this is stupid and would be perfectly willing to suffer the minor indignity and discomfort of being drugged up with Make You Silly But Don't Knock You Out drugs, which I had done with my previous endoscopy, but that is the price of having it done cheaply. Most Americans aren't really willing to accept that.
It also means we just plain don't drop a half million dollars on you to make your last 4 days of life slightly more comfortable. That's a big part of what we're all subsidizing by dropping a grand just to have the doctor look at you. Old people aren't willing to give up their end-of-life luxury care. Affordable care means a doctor gives you a bottle of opioids and tells you to say your prayers rather than you getting whisked away to a hospital ($50K/night stay) to get loaded up with a ton of shit that will prolong your life by nine minutes.
Now I am fine with this. You, personally, might be fine with this. But most Americans? The minute they learn that your last week of life will be spent at home rather than consuming enormous amounts of wealth, they vote for whichever party promises to keep the firehose of money turned on.