Quote:
Originally Posted by cairns
Let's face it health care costs (meaning insurance) have gone up dramatically since the AHA was enacted. And having a health insurance company tell a doctor what he or she can prescribe would have been unthinkable even a few years ago. Just try getting a non generic prescription. I went from UHC platinum to bronze- and I'm paying more for it- since last year. The platinum price doubled.
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Actually, the average rate of increase over the past 12 years was cut by 2/3 last year. Health care costs were rising 12-15% a year in the US. Now 5. But the distribution of the increases is not consistent. The true savings will be known years from now as people get early diagnosis and treatment that is proven to be 11-12% of the cost of a deferred diagnosis in many diseases.
Where minimum wage 'floors' have been raised, local economies have done noticeably better. But where wages are not supported, there are too many instances of corporations pushing employees to Federal assistance to supplement low wages/reduced working hours. Someone calculated that the Federal subsidy for a typical Walmart is about $1 million/yr.