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by bojangleslover 91 days ago
It's neither capitalist nor socialist. If it were fully socialist you would have long wait lists but it would be free and there would be one payer. It is like this for Medicare and Medicaid which I've heard are a fantastic UX. But this is only the case for about half of Americans (the ones who don't pay for it).

On the other side, if it were fully capitalist you would be able to see the price and walk away if you didn't like it. This is what makes capitalism work. Your margin is my opportunity. Instead, the upper middle class, who pays for everything already, and is unable to use Medicaid, is forced to use a certain "network" of providers and never, ever sees the price upfront. This is the cornerstone of capitalism. Does the buyer like the price? If so, transact. It's completely not there. Instead, it's actively discouraged and banned, and the price is maximized post-hoc by the same entities who negotiate directly with the employee's employer. Ie, a quantitative shakedown.
3 comments
Doable0896 91 days ago
> If it were fully socialist you would have long wait lists but it would be free and there would be one payer.

That is a crazy thing to say. Not saying that it can't be true, but a socialist system doesn't mean automatically long wait lists.

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TheOtherHobbes 91 days ago
Waitlists are a function of funding, not a direct abstract consequence of socialism. Countries with single payer that have adequate funding - with single payments from taxes that are hugely lower per capita than the US system - do not have long wait lists.

As for walking away - it's hard to do that if you're dying or unconscious.

And of course corporate capitalism always collapses to cartels and monopolies.

The idea that a free market optimised for consumer competition is a mythology, not a reality.

Markets compete for shareholder returns, not customer satisfaction. Customers are only ever a convenient source of profit with inconvenient expectations of service quality and cost.

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Ylpertnodi 91 days ago
>If it were fully socialist you would have long wait lists but it would be free [....]

No. Wouldn't wait times are dictated by supply (doctors) and demand (patients), not the political system?

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