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Universal coverage arguments aside, here are less talked about fixes to costs I would push for that I think we could all agree on: 1. The residency program has been capped at the same level due to Congress since the 90s, shortage of doctors has followed since the population has grown significantly. Huge bottle neck at that point in the training pipeline so it needs to be increased. 2. Get rid of the 4 year bachelors requirement for medical school. Info is mostly useless. Most countries do 2 year premed undergrad on core courses + 3 year medical school. Would also help with student loan issue. 3. Redirect funding to preventative programs rather than curative programs.

The Interstate highway system is an excellent example. No where in the constitution does it say Americans are entitled to a safe and efficient nationwide transportation system. In fact, the founders could not possibly have predicted that there would ever be a need for such a system. That’s kind of the point. As the nation developed industrially and technologically, we collectively decided that a national highway system would be beneficial to the country as a whole. Tax dollars paid for it, and surely there were naysayers who insisted they would never use it and asked why their hard earned dollars should go to such a system. It’s called living in a modern, civilized society. When the society as a whole decides that there is an indispensable need, everybody gets to pitch in a little whether they like it or not. There are any number of examples of federally funded projects not specified by the constitution. How about the national power grid? The CDC? NASA? Hell, even a standing army, which the founders were dead set against, became something which we eventually discovered was impossible to do without. The point is, when we as a society decide that the benefits of having something outweigh the costs, the collective wins out and there will always be certain individuals who disagree. That may sound like big bad socialism, but it’s nothing new. And it’s the process we’re going through right now regarding healthcare. The collective has decided that the benefit outweighs the cost. This is why the Republican mantra is “repeal and replace” vs just “repeal”. Because they know the tide has turned and the majority of the public wants their government involved in the solution. IMO the battle over whether there should be some sort of national healthcare system is over and the discussion should be about what we want that system to look like. I agree that the ACA has some serious flaws, so let’s fix them or come up with something better.

Biden's "kid" is a 50-something year old grown ass man. I believe he's a grandparent for Christ's sake... But those arguing against his being included in the mud fest sure seem ok with anyone with a last name of Trump being slimed, including a teenager because they are related to "bad orange man" so it's ok to do so. That said, although there are some other financial shenanigans Hunter is likely to see prison time over (look for an Indian casino thing along with one business partner in jail, the other just had his sentence confirmed after appeal), cashing in on a famous last name is not likely one of them. Where the criminal acts come in is with whatever federal officials aided/abetted/contributed/were part of a conspiracy as part of that cashing in. "You got six hours to fire the prosecutor or you aren't getting the billion dollars" isn't a good look as part of that. Neither is using Air Force 2 as your calling card to score personal financial success. The veracity of the laptop and contents have been more than proven to include, released today, a physical receipt left at the repair shop and signed by Hunter. Biden is now officially hiding in his basement since yesterday. For "debate prep." That sure is convenient that the press isn't hounding him over this scandal and letting him prepare. I'm sure they'd give Trump the same courtesy. Not to mention the deletion of foreign policy as a topic as agreed to previously by both candidates and has been historically precedented in these debates. Wonder why that deletion? Finally, and the big takeaway from Hunter-gate, is the deliberate squelching of a major news story by supposedly "neutral" IT providers. By taking their stance, both Facebook and Twitter have declared themselves as publishers. I hope the FCC and/or Congress act accordingly. edited to add: Talking head lawyer Jeffrey Tobin of way too many liberal outlets and impeachment cheerleader was "given time off to deal with personal issues" after being caught spanking his monkey on a business zoom call. Oh, and our deficit is now 3.1 trillion this year. What could possibly go wrong?

4. Assess what is actually needed in the residency programs. They have been increasing in length over the years. You could argue it's to increase knowledge. You can also argue that hospitals are using residents as cheap labor (80 hour work weeks for $30-60k/year) to pad their budgets, and since new doctors must complete a residency, they have no real negotiating power for salary or work schedules, and can't just go to another program (since it is controlled by a central match board). 5. Increase the number of nurse practitioners and the scope of what they can do. This one has been on the rise in the last decade or so, and is a pretty contentious issue within the medical community, as they don't complete a residency before they can practice, and the scope of their training is more narrow. On the other hand, it makes for a cheaper, more accessible alternative to seeing a doctor, though the quality of diagnostics may not be as good. This is essentially how your bullet #2 has been put into practice. But on bullet 1-that's federally funded... And you can't receive medical treatment from a doctor in the US unless they completed a US residency program. Who pays for that? (Taxation is theft!/s) Should Congress control the limits on residency program seats? Why hasn't the free market increased the number of residency seats due to a demand for doctors? Also, one private organization runs the match process, so there's no other way to attend a residency than to go through that organization. It's not a free market for doctors looking to work in the US. And if a doctor wants change specialties (say they are burned out working in an ER and want to switch to family medicine), they have to go back through a new residency program, which takes a seat away from a new doctor. Why can't a doctor just apprentice to an experienced doctor with X number years experience outside of a match process to satisfy their residency requirement? On bullet 3, how do you encourage preventative care, especially for people without insurance, or have insurance with high deductibles/coinsurance costs? I like your approach to this discussion-too often the issue gets distilled into a soundbyte about universal healthcare and polarized by both political parties, when the truth and heart of the debate really is in the middle. But that doesn't make for good news entertainment, not does it rile up the voting base, so...

Well, every DNI and director of our intelligence agencies are President-appointed. So every one of them is useless? Who would you trust then to determine if there is Russian interference? Adam Schiff? It’s a wild story, but Hunter Biden wasn’t exactly on the straight and narrow during the time period this happened. It’s also worth noting that the shop owner didn’t immediately call Giuliani. He called the FBI, who seized the computer, never called him back, and *according to Giuliani* was told to “keep his mouth shut.” After a period of time he started reaching out to people who eventually put him in touch with Giuliani, where he gave him a copy. I’m not taking any of this story as fact until I know more. But there’s a hell of a lot more meat here than the Ukraine impeachment. We have actual emails that corroborate a quid-pro-quo when paired with Biden’s comments to the CFR. Sure, you guys are upset at Trump playing golf and taking trips. I’m not happy about it, but it’s legal. Biden using his position as VP to enrich himself via international sources is a crime. They’re different. They might feel equally as outrageous morally, but you can’t put Trump in prison for playing golf. You can put Biden in prison for getting a payday via the Chinese. Investigate it. Follow leads. Test sources. It’s literally your job as media. The fact they won’t even do that is outrageous. Our media was terrible before, but this might be the breaking point. They’ll investigate random sources if it’s against Trump but God forbid they do the same to the other side.

Wish I had his hair. Glad I don’t have his wild ideas or religion. Don’t know what you are implying with Matt And slack line. But I’m hoping you aren’t calling him a sexual deviant and woman abuser. Let’s stay above the personal attacks.

“...promote the general welfare...” is probably the catchall. Is it good if Americans are healthy? Yes. Is it good if Americans are wealthy? Yes. I’m not saying that everyone just gets to be rich because America is rich (a la UAE), but to me, healthcare is like the road system. We all pay for it, some people happen to use it more than others, it helps us all. Isn’t that the point of government? To help the majority of the populace?

Yes, I'm posting a link instead of writing a ton of information, but I really think Rep. Dan Crenshaw did a good job talking about medical reform with Dr. Avik Roy. https://holdthesetruthswithdancrenshaw.libsyn.com/a-more-sensible-approach-to-fixing-health-care-dr-avik-roy Dr. Roy has done some interesting studies that conclude while the US is a good system, we could do better... and Medicare for all is not the answer. He mentions a catastrophic care system (which I've been in favor of for a while) while using the market to give user choices, while not leaving those with pre-existing conditions out. Worth the 34min if you have time.

It doesn't. Even if health care is believed to be a "right", the gov doesn't subsidize any of our other rights provided by the constitution. Why should health care be any different? Especially when so many of us do not take care of ourselves.

Where in the constitution does it say the federal government has a duty to protect the citizenry from financial ruin?

Access to Tricare was probably the single most important factor is me deciding to take the pilot bonus (and stay to 20). Pilot bonus put money in the bank/investment portfolio for my family if something were to happen to me (above and beyond SGLI), and check of the month would mean that even if I can't work after I reach military retirement, my family's basic needs could be met. But Tricare removes what I feel is the biggest risk to finances in retirement-healthcare costs. Healthcare costs are probably the one big risk (in my opinion) that can ruin financial security, especially as you get closer to retirement (real retirement, and no longer working), and could potentially wipe out decades, or a lifetime, of careful financial planning. Hell, it was hard enough to decide how much I was willing to pay when my pet cat went to the emergency vet; I can't imagine having a loved one going to the ER and having to set a price on their life because health insurance didn't cover the care (or cover enough with high deductables or co-insurance). Especially when I (eventually) am no longer working and living on a fixed income. What's the catastrophic cap for Tricare? $600 in a given year? It's low enough that as a major, it's a drop in the bucket in my emergency fund.

It's not necessarily mandatory. If you can demonstrate that you have a certain amount of money, insurance is optional depending on the state. The rule is there to protect other drivers from your mistakes. Not to protect you from anything at all. In either case, you have a choice.

Also in socialized health care a board can decide if you need the medical care or not or prioritize others health when you are deemed to be to old or too close to death, etc etc to get any long term value from the procedure. That’s how social medicine works. It can’t be readily available to everyone if it’s good. Think about that loved one in your life that has passed on or not and somehow benefitted from a life saving or altering procedure that they might not on the onset needed. Like someone who has a terminal illness getting an unrelated major proceedure that allows them to live a few years more under their terminal illness. In socialized Medicine a board can opt out of that procedure severely reducing the remaining quality of life or even ending the life early. No thanks. Socialism sucks. Capitalism allows us to take advantage of everyone’s talents for all involved’s benefit.

Thanks to DosXX and JazzDude, those are really interesting ideas and along the lines of what I was thinking. There are real, tangible things we can do within out current system before we blow it all away. That being said, a lot of the cost for care comes as early detection and follow-up weren't done as a part of routine care...because of a lack of insurance. Said the same thing about a lot of programs by the government (ex. Social Security, Workers comp, etc.) yet here we are. It's amazing to me we're one of the few Western nations that has this debate, and the fall back is, "It costs money, my freedom is being taken." I lived in a lot of places during my active years all of them Western (except for a horrible stint in Korea) and I asked a lot of people about their health care, because like I said...family issues, and none of them bitched about it. Canadians, Australians, UK'ers, Germans. Anecdotal, I know. (From that group Ozzies partied the hardest...by far.) I read all your comments Guardian, a lot of it seems to boil down to, "I got mine, don't get sick, stop being poor." I guess we'll keep helping each other with medical costs via GoFundMe.

100% disagree.. they are dead serious.

Agree to disagree https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2016-08-03/canadians-increasingly-come-to-us-for-health-care%3fcontext=amp

I think the free market would result in a better outcome for healthcare for everyone. Right now, it's difficult for the consumer to actually influence the healthcare market since most costs are hidden. You take your car in for repairs, you get an estimate before you pull the trigger. If you are buying an air conditioner, you can shop around. I'm sure many of the folks not on active duty on this website have been to the doc, had some medical procedure done, and then start getting bills you weren't aware were coming. Oh, I'm sorry, your insurance doesn't cover "out of network" lab work so you have to pay more for lab work that you didn't even know about or have a choice where it was sent. Or an anesthesiologist that is separate charges from your doc. My personal favorite was an ankle that I thought I broke but only sprained. I limped into the ER, got some x-rays, told it was sprained, wrapped it, and I was limping my way out when the nurse kept insisting I get some crutches. I finally relented and accepted the crutches. My insurance was billed $700 for those crutches. (I just searched Amazon for crutches and found them for $21.07) Anyway, improve transparency in medical costs and I think that would be an option I'd be on board for.

Imagine the US government running the health care system!!! Haha! What is the worst that could happen??? The damn government can't even maintain our roads... Open up the free market and let it loose on our health care system.

I don't think you understand the point. Is it "mandatory"? If it were in the same way you advocate for universal healthcare, why do millions of Americans not have car insurance? If you earn enough to purchase a car, smart enough to pass a driving test, skilled enough to get licensed, and hurl 3000lbs of steel down the highway putting other people, including myself, and other people's property at risk of death and damage, I'd like to know that I'd get compensated if I also choose to do the same and you make a mistake. It's a choice for both of us.

No surprise here. Clowns. https://dailysnark.com/2020/10/19/joe-buck-troy-aikman-caught-on-hot-mic-mocking-military-flyover-before-kickoff/

Um, so I suppose you think that mandatory car insurance is unconstitutional as well? Insurance 101: Everybody pays in, just in case & only a few will end up actually using the service. The idea behind mandating certain types of insurance (like car insurance), is that it doesn’t really work unless it’s universal. This holds true for healthcare. I might decide to save a few bucks and roll the dice with my health, but this makes it more expensive for everyone else and they’re still on the hook when/if I require emergency services that may have been unnecessary with preventative care. The argument is that a healthy population is good for the nation as a whole and it’s cheaper in the long run to do preventative maintenance than to try to fix a catastrophic breakdown.

Making buddy-buddy with India and not encouraging them to ally with China would probably be a better strategy. India wants to make their own path, but we can certainly benefit from friendly relations, and it boosts them for any issues with China. ...sadly our support of everyone's best friend Pakistan probably ruined that.

Why should the government provide healthcare coverage for military families/dependants at extremely low cost to the member? Should service members pay insurance premiums comparable to the national average for premiums? At least for the service member, you could argue they should have healthcare coverage to protect the investment made in the service member if they have a critical skill. Should service members be covered for a pre-existing condition, or for medical accidents that happen not in the direct line of duty (say, breaking your arm while skiing on leave)? Or pay for coverage to cover non-line of duty accidents? The government subsidizes lots of things. Food stamps, social security, medical research, basic science research, education, arts, conservation of wilderness areas, roads, housing, etc. It also (heavily) subsidizes defense. Basically, it's all an investment in our society to hopefully make us all better, even if it's not a "right." What about combat zone tax exemption? Why not eliminate that? What purpose does it serve, besides essentially being a pay raise for doing the job we signed up to do? (Especially since HFP/IDP also exists)

Speaking of real world analysis and logistics. A conversation with your bros that have been there (not just over) in the last few months may help focus the lens a bit.

We as a country have determined that we want certain segments of the population to have government supported health care and have for more than 50 years. Why is expanding this out to include others a bad thing if the voting populous determines that is what they want?

Could you point when he ran in the 70s? Do you mean 1988?

Term limits. Get rid of every DC swamp creature (D’s & R’s) who’s been there for 20+ years [emoji106]

$$$$ massif and dri-fire make fire retardant moisture wicking shirts that I like. The dri-fire are softer and lighter but the massif are more durable. $ on Amazon, Soffe makes some nice cotton ones

There are valid statements above from both sides, but here’s what really matters in my opinion: total fabrication or not, shady or not, the media has no problem plastering shit on trump/other GOP all over the place, but when the same level of shady shit is available on hunter/other Dems, it’s shut down by chairman mao. Regardless of the authenticity/accuracy of smear information, either allow it all (and let the consumer form their opinion), or take your “moral stand” and suppress it; your call media. But when they do one for the Dems and the other for the GOP, it’s very disturbing and frankly everybody, regardless of party affiliation, should acknowledge this bullshit. It’s still suppressing free speech even if you disagree with the content/statements, and that’s wrong.

From Jon Turley. Claims that HAVE NOT been made from the Biden Camp: 1. This is not Hunter Bidens computer. 2. These are not Hunter Bidens emails and pictures. 3. This is defamation. https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/hunter-biden-computer-facebook-trump-censorship-scandal-jonathan-turley

I seriously don’t understand how the media is not coving it or keeping it under wraps that Biden is directly connected to pay for play scheme with two enemy foreign super powers. And it’s been going on for a long time. At the very least massive fraud sending his son in Air Force 2 to go make some dolla bills. Doesn’t seem like liberals and Democrats really care about morals and laws. Just....”orange man bad!” It doesn’t seem to matter all of the good things a president has done, if he doesn’t talk in the manner you think he should, then he’s bad. Get him out.

Remember when they did (tried) the same thing for the CENTCOM AOR? Pick your best and brightest and give them experience giving Afghanistan and Pakistan a hand... At least indopacom should have nicer locations...

I think anybody who lost a son, daughter, father, mother, brother, or sister for no purpose or benefit to national security would disagree. An Afghanistan presence isn’t even close to a deterrence for major powers in that part of the world, and certainly has no real quantifiable objective or reasoning behind it. People’s children who weren’t even born when this shit started are going off to get killed and kill people in Afghanistan who weren’t alive when it started either. We shouldn’t have a single American in that place.

I really don't get the subdued spice brown patches, nametapes, etc. It's on velcro; if you truly need to be camo'ed, just take them off, like we do with the flight suit.

Politics have been polarized for some time. Who was the last Republican Presidential Candidate that the media and Democrats, but I repeat myself, called a Nazi? Say they were going to starve old people? Trump didn't start that, it's been going on for a while. Trump decided not to go along to get along and refused to accept the usual spiel from Democrats and their media mouthpieces. Blaming it on Trump is failing to look at the historical record.

Sit down at your office computer, open Excel, and type $1,000,000 in cell A1. How would you convince someone that it's real, has value, and can given to them? Maybe you tell them they can also spend it and you'll accept a portion of it back in the future as a required tax payment. Perhaps you decide to spend your money on Healthcare, cellphones for the needy, or donate it to a school. Can this money you just created be wasted? Now change it to $2,000,000. Repeat. In 2020, our government and the Federal Reserve has added approx $3.5 Trillion US Dollars to our money supply by simply snapping their fingers, and is expected to add at least another $1.5 Trillion in the next stimulus. The early estimate of our 2020 GDP, declined by almost 40% in the second quarter, and likely over 5% during the year. The 2019 total US Federal Tax Revenue was about $3.7 Trillion. We are now creating more US dollars than exist in the total US Budget ($4.79 Trillion). Unelected people in power are arbitrarily creating unimaginable sums of money to maintain the illusion the system is working. If we print approximately 150% more dollars than we collect in tax revenue this year, why are we paying taxes at all? If you make $150K, you don't get a stimulus check. Your neighbor gets a $1200 non-taxable check. If you want $1200, you pick up a $1200 airline trip and contribute to the US GDP and pay taxes on that income. The numbers are going parabolic, and we're nearing the end of the currency system. The numbers are now based on abstract concepts. If you're on the left and believe social issues will determine the path of the US, you're a pawn. If you're on the right and believe the current social issues are a deciding factor in the election, you're naive. Why isn't the economy and US debt among the topics discussed every campaign debate, town hall, and news report as they were in previous elections? Because it's an unanswerable question for everyone in public office. They're brokering deals, amassing wealth for themselves and business partners in preparation for what comes next, and they're telling us, whether we're democrats or republicans, we need to pay for it.

If they've restricted the story...sounds like they are making editorial decisions and have therefore decided to be a publisher, and not a platform. I seem to remember Zuckerberg arguing the opposite in front of congress.

is onlyfans an option?

**Goal:** Fly fighters for the guard/reserve (preferably F35 or F16) and support these technologies as an aerospace engineer on the civilian side **Personality:** Resolute, sociable, resilient **Degree:** B.S Aerospace Engineering (Partial Masters) GPA: 3.3 **AFOQT:** P97, N89, A79, V67, Q81 **PCSM:** 94 w/ 21 hours (99 81-100) **PPL:** Trying to finish, although I might not be able to afford it. I've already started solo's **LOR's:** Ret 06 F18 Wing Commander and Lockheed Director, Ret 06 First B2 instructor pilot and B2 Operations Group Commander and current Test pilot, Current 06 Squadron Commander **Age:** 26 **Experience:** * 3 years of technical engineering experience with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Sparton Defense and Security supporting 4th and 5th gen aircraft * Advanced Tactical Missiles * F35 EOTS * Northrop Strike Systems * Maritime warfare technologies * Senior Airman USAF Reserves * Technical lead * 5 EPR rating * Supervise task and general career development for new airman * Undergraduate Teaching Assistant * Aerospace Structures * Tutor (physics and calculus) * Over 10 students successfully scoring over a B * Undergraduate Researcher * Aerospace Structures and Materials focus (Thermal barrier coatings) **Honors/Activities:** * 1x Operations Group Airman of the Year * 1x Squadron Airman of the Year * 1x Squadron Airman of the Quarter * 2x Airman of the month * 1x Superior Performance Award * 1x AFAM in progress * 1x Msgt Steven E Auchman Leadership Award * President of morale club * Elite cheer leading scholarship * High school wrestling assistant coach **Most proud achievement:** Getting my GED after dropping out of high school for financial reasons. It gave me the ability to pursue my dreams of becoming a fighter pilot in the reserve/guard, and work as an aerospace engineer on the civilian side to develop these military technologies Please be critical in your feedback. I greatly appreciate any advice/suggestions to accomplish my dream of flying as a fighter pilot! Are there any things on my background I shouldn’t bother mentioning? Things I should highlight on? Any tips? P.S - Visiting VTANG here in two weeks and I’ve heard nothing but great things about them. Looking forward to rushing my first squadron! May be a stretch, but If you’re gonna be rushing as well feel free to hit me up if you want to link up with someone. I’m looking in to checking out the area the Friday prior :) Sent from my iPhone using Baseops Network mobile app

I'm sure there are some exceptions, but multiple units and people I spoke with before getting hired said that they wanted to hear that you were applying other places to show that you really wanted it. If you're only applying to one unit they may be flattered, but there may also be people that think "if this guy really wanted to be a pilot he'd be applying everywhere". Sent from my SM-N975U using Baseops Network mobile app

Recently got picked up by a fighter unit. This thread was incredibly useful during my preparation so I wanted to return the favor. Here were some of my questions: 1. Tell us about yourself. 2. Are you okay with the possibility of shooting down a civilian airliner? 3. Why should we choose you over all the other qualified applicants? 4. Convince me you wont wash out of UPT? 5. Have you ever been in a fight? 6. How will you interact with the enlisted personnel on base? (Asked by enlisted member) 7. What if you’re in UPT and failing, what would you do? 8. What is something you struggle with while flying? 9. What’s more important, being an officer or a pilot? 10. Do you have any questions or closing remarks? Biggest piece of advice I can give is to actually answer the question and relate your answer back to how you’ll succeed at UPT, flying, etc. At one of my interviews, I was so focused on deliberating that I never gave a straight answer to the question asked. Also, be yourself, be honest, and be confident even if you get pushback on some of your answers. Best of luck to everyone!

This thread helped me out a ton for my interview with a C-17 unit. Ended up doing very well and got picked up. Here's what I can remember. 1. Tell us a bit about yourself 2. Tell me about a time where you succeeded. Tell me about a time where you failed. 3. some questions about my current career field which some of the board members were unfamiliar with. 4. Why the C-17/How did you get here? 5. What are the capabilities of the C-17/What role does it fill? And a few follow up questions from my answers. I might be missing a question or two, but the previous pages of this thread basically covered all the questions I experienced. The questions here were super valuable! The best advice I can give is try to be relaxed. if you have made it all the way to the interview, you are qualified for the job. Now they want to know if you're someone they could work with for the next 5, 10, or 20 years.

For the leftist. Watch why conservatives think Trump is good for the nation.

And A-2 jackets aren't fire retardant, yet plenty of aircrew fly with them. Silly debate with a nonner.