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Anna's avatar

The CEO I believe was intended to serve as a symbolism. My heart goes out to him and his family, but many can see why he would have been a target to become a symbol to a larger message of “Those in wealth and powers aren’t untouchable”

Aside from the fact your “argument” is more of a a backhanded insult than it is an actual constructive alternative, it’s tone-deaf to say something like “Start up a competitor” - What good is putting out the fire on the stove when the whole house is engulfed in flames?

No one is asking for a utopian healthcare system, just one that isn’t driven by profit and greed. Yes, the system needs money to run and yes, you have to pay people but it should never have been profit driven to begin with.

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Alistair Penbroke's avatar

You can set up a non-profit healthcare insurance organization, that's what I already suggested you do. It's not only a constructive alternative, it's the only constructive revolutionary alternative anyone is suggesting anywhere in this thread.

People are trying to wriggle away from that proposal because they know it would be a lot of unrewarding work, won't make much difference and you'd still get the same hate as Brian did regardless of non-profit status. As the article already points out, health insurance is not especially profitable to begin with. Removing all profit wouldn't make much difference to outcomes. You're mis-identifying the sources of problems.

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Anna's avatar

Or because it’s unrealistic. Like trying to fix a broken dam with a strip of duct tape.

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lisa orlando's avatar

What do you mean “you”? Who exactly has the money and power required to do this? Someone like Mark Cuban, and he’s trying to do it with pharma. Do you know any other billionaires who are concerned enough? Doctors Without Borders barely has enough people and money to do this in places much worse off than we are. Or maybe you think sick people should get their shit together and follow your heartless Milton Friedman plan?

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Alistair Penbroke's avatar

You think health insurers grow on trees? They all started with someone sitting down and creating them. Loads of people have the ability to do it. You don't need to be a billionaire, there are lots of ways to get seed capital as a startup founder.

However, none of those people are dumb enough to think that there's some incredible strategy everyone else missed that will let them heroically remake healthcare without tradeoffs.

To repeat: there is no problem with US health insurance. It can be _improved_, but those improvements won't radically change anything because what people are upset about are fundamental aspects of reality itself, not something that is created by health insurance executives.

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