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alkonaut

There are midterms coming up. Vote for change and don’t vote for anyone who took one cent from the insurers.

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And here's a handy list of all representatives and how much they took from healthcare lobbyists.

https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?ind=H&cyc...

At least there's one thing with overwhelming, bipartisan support in Congress.

whats amazing to me is how little money it takes to sway a politicians vote. yes there are big numbers in the list but most of them are 10s of thousands. its just amazing that they are willing to put their conscience aside and condemn people to bankruptcy or worse for that little. for the worshipers of free market they sure are selling themselves off cheap.

I'm amazed by just how high the donations can go. What the hell did senator Sherrod Brown do to get $1.4M from the healthcare industry? A quick Google search doesn't reveal anything out of the ordinary, except for maybe the most ironic tweet of all time:

https://twitter.com/sensherrodbrown/status/89082321753065062...

The problem isn't that they're bought with $10k. They're approached and told "Take this money or we'll give your competitor $5 million to campaign and take your place". And they know they follow through with the threats, so they take the $10k.

but even that should ultimately bid-up the bribes after all its a 'free market'!

That probably rules out every state and federal politician. Either way, this was on the hospital. Insurance paid $50k for an operation that costs $25k, and still the hospital charged him $109k.

>UPDATE: Monday, shortly after publication and broadcast of this story by Kaiser Health News and NPR, St. David’s said it was now willing to accept $782.29 to resolve the $108,951 balance because Drew Calver qualifies for its “financial assistance discount.”

> That probably rules out every state and federal politician.

That sounds absolutely dystopian. A politician running on a platform to reform healthcare can’t possibly be bribed by the companies that would die in the process.

Who said anything about bribes? A politician runs on a reform agenda. Some hospitals put together an advertisement where concerned doctors say that the plan is "Not right for America". People trust doctors more than politicians so the reformer loses the election. Politicians know this so they don't try any reform that will reduce profits too much.

Seriously? Find me the politicians who haven't accepted campaign donations(bribes) from insurance or healthcare companies. Good Luck.

These guys don't take corporate money. https://now.justicedemocrats.com/candidates

I feel like the issue here is caused more by greedy Health Care company like HCA than the insurance industry.

The insurance industry is the enabler. Is there any other industry where you the individual do not know the cost until some third party that has agreed to pay the cost, negotiates said cost, and then even after negotiation may just give up and say, nevermind, pay it yourself?

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