re: #462 realwest

Where do you suppose all that money is? Serious question - and from one who cannot afford the treatment he needs.
I’d really like to know where that money is.

The money is in the hospital already. Guy gets an MRI, real cost is about $100, they list it at $1000, get reimbursed by whoever for $250, and this covers one and a half indigents.

Guy who does pay the $250, pays $30k/year taxes and $10k/year in health care premiums. Obama says, pay $35k/year taxes and $5k/year in insurance premiums. Then the government disburses the money to pay for indigents, instead of a profit-seeking hospital deciding to do so.

That kind of thing, writ big, is the deal. Yes, after all that, the government will have to allocate another $100b/year or so to make it all work, so that not just indigents but normal people can get free (or very low co-pay) care. And in this day and age, can we find that $100b? Well yeah, we can, as long as it goes for some useful purpose.

I don’t see anything in this but clever accounting, that falls well within what a Republican and conservative can support, and a realization that in this day and age, we’re a rich country and can afford to spend a little (!) to streamline and improve health care for all.