17 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

 

Isn't it like that in Thailand still?

 

And they have free health care!

 

Top private hospitals! They got it all!!!

 

Why can Thais do it and others can't?

Don't really matter where you are, good health principles are the same.

 

Sure the availability of clean water to drink is an issue in many places, but not here. IMO, the Thai healthcare system is not very good. But! In saying that, I can't think of maty countries where it is. Especially in the west.

4 minutes ago, Stiddle Mump said:

The Thai healthcare system is not very good

 

Why do you think that?

1 minute ago, Cameroni said:

 

Why do you think that?

Not enough prevention taught in schools. Far too many pills given out by the white-coats at every opportunity.

 

I'm not talking A & E here. Which is quite good IMO.

Just now, Stiddle Mump said:

Not enough prevention taught in schools. Far too many pills given out by the white-coats at every opportunity.

 

I'm not talking A & E here. Which is quite good IMO.

 

Yah, that's probably true.

Why is the US healthcare system such a complete mess?

 

Because it is driven by producing the maximum possible return on investment rather than providing a proper universal health care system.

 

Simple.

25 minutes ago, JAG said:

Why is the US healthcare system such a complete mess?

 

Because it is driven by producing the maximum possible return on investment rather than providing a proper universal health care system.

 

Simple.

Yep, the ins co's are for profit with stockholders to answer to. Healthcare comes in second to profits.

Not to mention the greedy for profit hospitals too.

It's just a bad system overall.

2 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

You are so clueless. Honestly, it's not your fault you have fallen into the trap.

 

To be in the highest 20% of earners in the US, an individual needs an income of about $117,162 or more. That's not rich, that s what most. working smucks makes. 

Your logic’s a bit skewered — not quite on an even keel.
‘Most’ means over 50% — not exactly the same demographic as the top 20% of earners.
Seems someone’s fallen into their own trap, clueless and all.

6 hours ago, BLMFem said:

So U.S. healthcare spending is 18% of GDP, nearly double the percentage of what other developed nations spend, and still they have a system that offers next to nothing for millions of people. Around 8% of Americans are uninsured (26 million people as of 2023).  Some people who are in accidents refuse offers of calling an ambulance because they can't afford the bill?! To a person who's grown up in a country where that was never, ever an issue this is mind-blowing.

 

I asked Grok (AI) the following question:

"Why is the US healthcare system such a complete mess?"*, and it listed several factors it believes contributes:

 

- It’s a patchwork of competing interests, misaligned incentives, and historical accidents.

- Private insurers, hospitals, and providers prioritize profit over care, driving up costs.

- Administrative costs eat up 8% of healthcare dollars (vs. 1-3% in peer countries).

- The fee-for-service model rewards volume over quality, leading to overtreatment and inefficiency.

- Employers tie insurance to jobs, limiting choice and portability.

- Medicare and Medicaid are underfunded and complex, leaving gaps for the poor and elderly.

- Historical resistance to universal systems, like those in Canada or the EU, stems from lobbying by insurance and pharma giants, plus a cultural aversion to "socialized" medicine.

- Opaque pricing: a simple procedure can cost $500 or $5,000 with no clear reason.

 

No wonder life expectancy in the US is the lowest of all Western nations, (excluding Easter Europe), Japan, South-Korea, Anzac. And, there seems to be no one who can offer a solution to the problem(s)!

 

* Leading question? Is anyone actually gonna argues it's not a mess?

 

 

Yep, it's a mess. Why.  Because those who gain the most out of predatory healthcare pay off Congress to keep it that way.

1 hour ago, Stiddle Mump said:

Becoming a white-coat used to be a calling.

 

The dosh has taken over.

 

In my world half the white-coats would need a different job. They would be on the dole.

How should a doctor earn when a K-12 teacher can earn $100k a year?

3 minutes ago, mogandave said:

How should a doctor earn when a K-12 teacher can earn $100k a year?

Both are callings. Greed is the downfall of may professions.

 

If yer don't love what yer do; get out.

3 minutes ago, Stiddle Mump said:

Both are callings. Greed is the downfall of may professions.

Do you work for minimum wage? If not, you must be greedy.

3 minutes ago, Stiddle Mump said:

 

If yer don't love what yer do; get out.

If you love what you do, you’d have to pay them. 

 

I loved my job, but the day they quit paying me, would have been my last day.

You get what you vote for.

 

 

1 hour ago, Stiddle Mump said:

Don't really matter where you are, good health principles are the same.

 

Sure the availability of clean water to drink is an issue in many places, but not here. IMO, the Thai healthcare system is not very good. But! In saying that, I can't think of maty countries where it is. Especially in the west.

What do we need healthcare for?  Virus don’t exist and let nature deal with it.

1 minute ago, MalcolmB said:

You get what you vote for.

 

 

Did you vote for labor?

6 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Incorrect, everyone has healthcare in USA.  If you can't afford it, it's provided, or was when I left in 2000.

 

 

You're talking 25 years ago, Khun.

 

How time flies.

One of the biggest reasons is because people are using almost exclusively insurance which is a middle man that negotiates the price on your behalf. You pay them every month and they collect a pool of money. They then come with their massive pool and buy services at inflated prices and take their cut. Even worse is the government subsidizes the fund so there's even more money to available to which the health care system will take.

 

TLDR; If there was no insurance and subsides it would be impossible to prices to rise beyond what people could afford out of their salaries.

2 hours ago, Cameroni said:

Top private hospitals! They got it all!!!

 

Why can Thais do it and others can't?

 

Notice how in Thailand there's vicious competition with business because the bar to entry is low? All of that is illegal in the US. Zoning, permits, licenses, taxes etc...

 

In Thailand they're competing with each other but in the US we're competing against the government and lobbies.

 

Say whatever you want about Thailand but it's still far more free than the United States, and yes it pains me to say that.

16 hours ago, TedG said:

You need to stop commenting on topic in which you lack the knowledge to understand the topic.

 

Why? It never stops you.

7 hours ago, Will B Good said:

 

Why? It never stops you.

I'll wipe the floor with you any day of the week. 

On 10/22/2025 at 6:30 PM, BLMFem said:

 

That is more or less correct, although a bit narrow in it's definition. So I asked an AI (Grok) the following question:

 

"As per the definition that socialism is an economic and political system where the community or state owns and controls the means of production, rather than private individuals, are there any countries on the planet that can be considered socialist?"

 

Part of reply, as per forum rules:

 

"By the strict definition of socialism—where the state or community owns and controls the means of production—few, if any, countries fully qualify today.

 

Countries Often Associated with Socialism

Cuba  

North Korea  
Venezuela  

Vietnam

Laos  

China 

 

So when the usual suspects sprout their drivel about "socialist" Western Europe, Canada or Anzac one can just gently bur repeatedly pat them on their ignorant little heads and kick their ample butts, Benny Hill style.😆

 

 

 

 

 

You are spot on. I searched Google for which European countries are Socialist and the answer was...

NONE

On 10/22/2025 at 3:53 PM, johng said:

Why is the US healthcare system such a complete mess?

 

Big Pharma !

No, it is all down to greed. 

Here's a short description of why the US healthcare system is a market failure:

 

https://www.spencertom.com/2025/05/17/health-economics-101-market-failure-in-healthcare/

3 minutes ago, Etaoin Shrdlu said:

Here's a short description of why the US healthcare system is a market failure:

 

https://www.spencertom.com/2025/05/17/health-economics-101-market-failure-in-healthcare/

Exactly. It was great until Obama care was passed.

18 hours ago, TedG said:

I'll wipe the floor with you any day of the week. 

 

 

55555

18 hours ago, TedG said:

I'll wipe the floor with you any day of the week. 

 

 

I see.....you used be a cleaner.....or you still are maybe......public toilets?