Questions 5 and 6 seem like a no brainer to me. Anyone want to try and change my mind?Submitted by MarcoVinicius t3_yaydhd in boston
man2010 t1_itdu1a4 wrote
5 is highly dependent on how it would be funded, and a more realistic state level improvement would be to build on our existing healthcare policies and maybe to expand MassHealth as a public option.
6 is a no brainer, but our legislature won't actually make it happen. I'd be interested to see their reaction if this ever made it as a statewide ballot initiative.
sardaukarma t1_ite06jh wrote
I don't really care how it's funded and I'm sure however it is, it is preferable to and more fair and efficient than any system that has enough waste to fund an entire parasitic insurance industry.
_EndOfTheLine t1_itevm7u wrote
I agree with you on the desired outcome. The problem is we pay a bunch of taxes already to the federal government for Medicare and Medicaid, that money would need to get unbound from those programs and allowed to be spent by the state on building a universal in-state system. Otherwise we'll be spending a huge chunk of our federal taxes on programs we're not using.
man2010 t1_ite2g6q wrote
It doesn't matter if you care or not because it doesn't exist without funding
Angri_1999 t1_itexh6k wrote
Give that this year the state had to literally refund taxes because we didn’t fund enough services and the rainy day fund is full… we should fund more stuff.
man2010 t1_itg7pmh wrote
A one year record surplus isn't a sustainable funding source for single payer healthcare
Angri_1999 t1_itgd77q wrote
I don’t know if the proposed non-biding question is the -right- use of the funds, but we’re run a surplus and re-built the rainy day over the last few years. Surely there are places that could use the funds. (Not meaning to attack, I just have a reflex response to “we can’t pay for it” when we had a tax refund)
The current wait time at DDS (disability services) to have your application reviewed by someone with the appropriate medical degree is over a year. Your medical releases will expire before the person who is tasked with it gets around to calling providers. Perhaps we could hire more reviewers?
Similarly, the DDS reimbursement rate for PCA’s (personal care assistants) to help disabled people with everyday life tasks is currently less than $20/hr. Even if you’re approved for a specified number of hours of care, the reimbursement rate is too low to get the care you need. A proposed budget amendment earlier in the year included raising the rate to $20, but it’s sponsor was convinced to remove it.
We could revise the chapter 70 formula to send more money back to schools (especially those with low income students, ELLs, and disabled students - places where we know the foundational level doesn’t match the actual cost to educate)
We could actually staff MBTA maintenance to the levels recommended in the FTA report (we’re currently at either 80%, or 60% if you don’t use mandatory overtime, of the number of workers needed to maintain the system)
I’m pretty sure every department that has a secretary (Education, Transportation, etc.) has unmet needs. Let’s fund some of those.
man2010 t1_itgqfcc wrote
A lot of these aren't really comparable to implementing single payer healthcare at the state level since they're either one time costs that make sense to use our one time record surplus on or aren't at all comparable in terms of cost to single payer healthcare. Our one year surplus isn't useful when talking about a new, massive public health program that would need to be funded in perpetuity.
Quirky_Butterfly_946 t1_ite49af wrote
Who will manage this, who gets to tell people what is not covered, how will the medical industry react and charge people. Will costs go up exponentially as they already have with insurance?
LeVeloursRouge t1_iteu5jq wrote
I hate the current insurance system. I have lots of ailments that require constant treatments and surgeries. But under no circumstances would I ever want the govt to gain more control of this system.
Healthcare as is, is abysmal. The only to make it worse is to further involve the govt - either party
CJYP t1_itg8ltk wrote
What would your idea be to make it better then? I'm open to hearing about other ideas.
LeVeloursRouge t1_itgebjr wrote
Eliminate PBMs. Mandatory cost listed at every medical facility. Allow insurance bidding across state lines. Allow import of generic drugs. Those are just a few that could get things trending in the right direction. I’m definitely not an expert on how the provider side works, I just know as a patient it’s awful.
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