Do you think US needs 2 focus more on domestic issues?

I've said before that the USA has their nose in everyone elses business but fail to address their own problems at home, this is proof of that.

238,000 US veterans die waiting for health care.

link

Mean while the US increases aid to Isreal to 4.5billion a year.

link

Bloody disgusting.

Yes, particularly the complete disaster that is private gun ownership and our even worse private health insurance system.

Are you sure you're American?

the infrastructure is falling apart, the wealth gap is climbing, we don't produce anything but steel and pop culture, the medical industry is raping everyone, washington is completely dysfunctional, we pointedly ignore mob violence, there are still lingering effects of the housing collapse, personal savings and investments are at an all time low, we live in a near police state because private firms make a fortune from incarceration, we print money to fix the economic problems created by printing money, the urban landscape is self destructing, information security is a mess and under constant attack, spree shootings, immigration, domestic terrorism, climate, dogs and cats living together and i have this pain that runs down my left side when i do this.

yeah... we are fucked and it can't be fixed because everyone is consumed with minor social issues that stroke their egos to be involved in while we ignore the big ones.

Israel is a strong ally of the US, so I fail to see how THAT example is the worst of all the crap that the government is doing (or not doing) within its own country right now.

Yes, but unlike most Americans, I have actually left the country, so I don't believe the lies about the U.S. being "the greatest country in the world" with "the best health care in the world", and I have seen first-hand how good life is in societies with very few guns.

You know I don't see guns here. Yes they exist but no one is waving guns around. And where ever you live now...I bet they have violence in some form.

As for greatest......it is. There are countries you could live in that would make you beg to be back in the US. There is no greatest.

Health care is actually one of the best when we talk about the actual care. Many people come from other countries for said care. The problem is the cost. That does NOT degrade the actual care one gets.

Are you in the U.S.? If so, then yes, gun owners are still the minority.

Cost does degrade the care you get. A heart attack victim who cannot pay the bill will be stabilized and sent home; one who can pay will receive top-tier treatment. Private insurance is a complete disaster in the U.S. This country desperately needs public insurance competition.

LOL you don't have a clue. No one is released until they are safe to do so. Insurance doesn't let you linger in the hospital either.

Private insurance is not a disaster. In countries where the government foots the bill minor surgeries can be held off for years if it's not life threatening because the money isn't there. You are undoubtedly young yet so you don't know that. With private insurance you just need a doctor to say the patient needs it. And I'll give you an example of a Canadian who was in need of hip surgery. He'd been waiting 3 years in pain for the surgery. That doesn't happen here.

Do we need to do something about cost? Yes. But I damn well don't want to make people wait for medical treatment either.

Think we can cut some stuff out

Private insurance demonstrates every single day that it is an absolute disaster, and yes, with insurance, you will get more care at the hospital. If you are uninsured, by law, hospitals are only required to provide stabilization. If you need follow-up visits with doctors, equipment, and even more medication, you are out of luck. If you can pay for it, the hospital will keep you on its equipment, you will get all the meds you need, and see all the doctors you need. Trying to deny it is pointless because it is denying reality.

Now, as for your hip anecdote. I doubt anyone who really needs a hip is waiting 3 years. No one is going to believe that, but the argument from personal experience is irrelevant. There are real statistics for these things. One doesn't have to rely on hearsay and anecdote. Everyone waits for care. I have 11 more days (of 23) to see my primary care physician for a checkup, an elective visit. Now, if it were an non-elective procedure, or an emergency, I can just go to an urgent care center or a hospital, just like Canadians can. life-threatening conditions are addressed right away in both countries, non-life threatening ones are not, unless you can pay right away out of pocket. Say all you want, but facts won't change. Canadians live longer, spend less, and have better healthcare outcomes in most metrics with their single payer system than Americans do with private insurance, all without ever having to worry about a bill or going bankrupt because of it. That is progress. That is how you do health insurance.

@samusbeliskner:

If it's not listed as necessary there is in fact a waiting period. I know what the Canadian dude said. He was complaining. His American gf had better medical coverage.

NO ONE is released from the hospital when they still need care and/or machines. You are flat out lying there. Sucks to have a limit on how many times one can visit their doctor. You think THAT is good care? Seriously?

Anyway you spout off things but no information is provided. One thing to consider however is life expectancy is calculated differently. For instance baby deaths are all included in the US while other countries do not count them if they fall under x amount of days.

Also life expectancy would have stats from accidents and yes even murders to skew those numbers. A country for instance with gang problems in some cities would skew the stats lower than one that does NOT have that problem. So one should always know the facts behind the stats before using them as proof of anything.

mass hysteria?

lulz. you always have to include a little sugar in the mix when telling people they are doomed.

I never wrote that anyone was released before they receive care. You started your entire reply on a straw man, and you are still arguing from personal experience. If you want to re-read what I wrote and then submit a reply without the use of common logical fallacies, I will likely respond.

Bullshit.

I've dealt with insurance plenty both with myself and with my mother. They will most definitely **** you over. My mom had a surgery and the docs wanted to keep her under observation in the hospital for blood clots but Blue Cross and Blue Shield said "no, we'll send a nurse to the house twice a week, she'll be fine at home." Well, she wasn't, and ended up with a pulmonary embolism.

When I had some medical issues damn 15 years ago now, I went to a specialist listed in my insurance packet. After getting the bill, Blue Cross and Blue Shield were all like "we don't know why he was listed in your network because he isn't so we're not paying for it."

Yeah I sued. Settled out of court.

Foreign and domestic affairs don't exist in vacuums. You need to focus on both.

That's odd. It's hard to sue insurance companies for that. You usually end up suing the hospital or doctor that treated you. That's who releases you from the hospital, not the insurance company. It may be because the insurance won't pay, but in the end, the liable party ends up being the health care provider and not the insurer. It's stupid, because I do think it's the insurance company's fault, but that's are terrible legal system for you.

For the second example, that's possible. If they deny a service that they were supposed to cover, you may be able to sue for that.

I don't see how people can't see that the real death panels are the insurance companies. They can and do overrule doctors all the time.

I take escitalopram for anxiety and to help me sleep. Insurance company didn't want to pay, wanted me to take the older related drug citalopram which I have known reactions to. Argued, they wouldn't budge, so I was like "**** it" and took the citalopram.

Insurance ended up having to pay for a 3-day stay due to qt prolongation. Like I knew would happen.

Now they pay for my escitalopram. Dumbasses.

I never said it was the worst example, it is one example.

No help for the vets of US but extra help for Isreal. Veery disrespectful.

It is total bs. My doctor had me on a medicine, but insurance wouldnt cover that. So he recommended a genreic, but he's still liable as opposed to the insurance company. Dumb system.

But anything else is COMMUNISM, don't you know?

You remind me of this teacher I had in high school. He would rail on and on about how shitty the US is. He praised Thailand where his 19 year old wife was from. He ended up moving there later on. A fellow student who kept in contact with him told me that he's broke as ****, no job, and contracted HIV and now has aids.

I like how claiming that the U.S. is just not the best in the world is "railing on and on about how shitty the U.S. is". lol.

Yes. The United States needs to focus more on domestic issues.

I didn't say you railed on and on about it.....he did though...your post just reminded me of him.

The US Federal government has branches that focus on domestic and foreign affairs. It's not an either/or situation like a video game developer wondering whether or not to invest more in single player as opposed to multi player.

What a coincidence. You remind me of my "conservative" neighbor was was just arrested for child pornography (Young boys. Go figure...), one of those "family values" Republicans.

Oh really? Thanks for claering that up for me..

Maybe those domestic affairs branches need to pull their fingers out their asses no?

Billions for Isreal nothing for american vets.

"To support this mission, the 2016 Budget provides $70.2 billion in discretionary funding for VA, a 7.9 percent increase above the 2015 enacted level. In addition, the budget includes $3.2 billion in estimated medical care collections, for a total discretionary budget authority of $73.5 billion (which includes $3.2 billion in Medical Care Collections), and $95.3 billion for VA’s mandatory benefit programs."

http://www.va.gov/budget/docs/summary/Fy2016-VAsBudgetFactSheet.pdf

The Department of Veteran's Affairs gets plenty of money to help American Vets. This was a 10 second Google search away.

Its not about the money its about the vets actually getting the care they need.

Why have thousands and thousands vets in US died while waiting for Health care.

See if you can google that one up :P

Um...you know any vet can go to a VA hospital...right?

@samusbeliskner: How interesting. I'm actually registered as an independent, leaning more towards the left. That's cute though. You actually remind me of some classmates I graduated with who were 'environmentally savy and forward thinking' only because it was cool to think that way, yet they had no idea what they were talking about, thus giving real progressives a bad name.

@LJS9502_basic: umm you know i didnt just pluck that number of "veteran deaths while waiting for health care" out of thin air right?

I am not making this up something is clearly wrong.

The more I research it, the more I think it's poor record-keeping on the part of the VA rather than death by negligence..

I do use the VA both when I lived in NY and when we moved back here in AZ last year. The service has been decent so far.

LOL

I'm not claiming you are not. You just remind me of this "conservative", "family values" neighbor who was arrested for homosexual child porn and entering little children, that I used to have. Now he's in jail, likely being raped every day. All I'm saying is that your reply reminded me of him.

@samusbeliskner: Oh you got me :-)

Again, I don't mean to "get you", so I don't know why we're still talking about it. The way you reply. It just reminds me of my "conservative" felon neighbor who was arrested for child porn and abuse. You just remind me of him. There's nothing more to it. No need to reply.

You won't hear me decry an increase in foreign aid when it accounts for such a small percentage of the budget (it's just about 1%). Combine that with the fact that it has proven to be massively helpful in a multitude of ways and I'll tell you that we need to increase it to around 5% or possibly, if you want to see the country reflect Christianity, 10% .

That being said we do need to stop pouring money into foreign wars, and invest more at home. Infrastructure needs a boost, people need better jobs, and Healthcare needs to be further improved upon.

I'd like to see us move towards a single payer system for healthcare. I actually get free healthcare through my company (plus I am a veteran), however, when I look at the statistics in how much we pay per person vs our health outcomes it just doesn't make any sense what-so-ever.

@plageus900 said:

@samusbeliskner said:

@plageus900 said:

@samusbeliskner: Oh you got me :-)

Again, I don't mean to "get you", so I don't know why we're still talking about it. The way you reply. It just reminds me of my "conservative" felon neighbor who was arrested for child porn and abuse. You just remind me of him. There's nothing more to it. No need to reply.

Ah, damn. Now you just reminded me of Josh Duggar...

@samusbeliskner said:

@plageus900 said:

@samusbeliskner said:

@plageus900 said:

@samusbeliskner: Oh you got me :-)

Again, I don't mean to "get you", so I don't know why we're still talking about it. The way you reply. It just reminds me of my "conservative" felon neighbor who was arrested for child porn and abuse. You just remind me of him. There's nothing more to it. No need to reply.

Ah, damn. Now you just reminded me of Josh Duggar...

That was low, bro.

@samusbeliskner: Good riddance.

You are correct. Everyone should be on Medicaid, funded by a consumption tax on non-essentials, so that everyone who can afford to pays into it.

I would like to see the U.S. government reflect the diversity of its schools. In that event, a more global government would match its influence.

The US needs to focus less on issues, foreign and domestic.