It depends on what you call a tax

Look, man. I was talking about taxation without representation. At least our taxes get represented. In some way, we actually keep our government responsible.

Colonial America didn't have that option

i wonder if without the war of independence britain would have created the taxation of colonies act 1778

Doubtful

you can have affordable, available, or quality. but not all 3.

Our healthcare system is fucked up rn.

It's way more complicated than universal or let alone free

Corruption runs rampant, but damn is that corruption advantageous

which is here

what I find strange is that a lot of americans say healthcare is bad .. and look at canada as an example... which is rated one of the worst in the world 😛

lmao

American healthcare would be more affordable if we just stopped acting like insurance companies help us.

Well. They do.

And it's that kind of necessary evil

they go to doctors and hospitals, and ask for a discount for giving them "business". The doctors go "but... this is how much this procedure costs.... like, there is no discount to have" and the hospital goes "we will charge this stupid price, give you a discount on THAT price, then charge the uninsured this new price. And now that we have made up these numbers no one can pay, they can get the state to pay us! then we will not pay the doctors enough, understand, and walk away with pockets full"

I'm a firm believer, however, that necessary evil is still evil and thus should be eliminated. But I guess that makes me naive.

there is a literal ledger in hospitals of how much to charge for a procedure, and its basically made up.

I got a quote for private health insurance - £13 a month full cover

its ridiculous.

@Grenade123 I agree

but I would only ever need it for things the NHS doesnt cover... like rare crap

I negotiate procedure prices myself at hospitals. People don't know you can actually do that

I had to learn

before or after you had the procedure?

Both sometimes

lmao

Look, 2014 was a rough year for me physically

you are like lying on the table "what what what, how much is this gonna cost? 3000?! man, i'm walking out out of here if you can't come down to at least 1200."
"sir, you can't walk out of here."
"like hell i cant! you cant keep me!"
"no, i mean both your legs are broken."
"oh yeah? just watch me. 1200 or i'm walkin."

No not that. Lmao

i know, i'm jokin

I call the doctor's office for a colonoscopy. They tell me the time. I tell them I don't know that I can afford it. They send me to billing and discuss how much I'm able to pay.

I was without insurance for half a year

depending on how often you really need a hospital, probably be better off haggling them down when you need to go, and putting what you would be paying to insurance into a bank account

Basically

Hospital visits are tricky to negotiate

no more questions of if all the money you are giving them is pissed away when they say "yeah, needing to have a Gangrene leg removed is NOT a life save procedure"

You can't negotiate until you're about to be discharged

"What? your heart is failing and needs to be replaced? Yeah, thats considered an elective procedure"

That's just corruption

But anyway. I posted that hospital bill for a rattlesnake bite, and people are calling it a failure of healthcare