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Comment by fancyfredbot | Hacker News Reader

This is very admirable of Bill, but it seems odd that the world's biggest economy is reliant on hand-outs to keep its citizens healthy.

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To me, it seems odd that government would have a monopoly on anything in health care. Non-profits can play a very valuable role in exposing inefficiencies in large bureaucracies.

I don't think I implied governments should have a monopoly over health care? There are many other options. For example, I'm wondering why isn't health insurance covering testing? It'd save them money if it helped limit the spread of disease.

It would make sense if everybody were insured. However they really would want everyone to get tested, not just their customers, for the reason you cited. If anything, they should be incentivized to make their own foundation to give it away, like Bill Gates is. Car insurance companies have pooled together to form the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety for crash tests. So such things can come about.

Nah, they'll just refuse coverage for COVID-19 treatment anyways.</cynic>

Playing a role in exposing inefficiencies, and fulfilling basic needs, that governments and health care systems in far poorer countries across the world have had no trouble doing so, are very different things.

This appears far more of the latter.

I mean, the article says they will be able to do about 400 tests a day.

That’s a fraction of the number of tests poor developing countries have been doing for weeks now.

Non-profits play a role in the health care systems of most major countries that do have universal systems.

America is that way because rich people like Bill made it so. They worked hard at it and still do.

Saying that the US reached its current position in the world solely due to the work of rich people is an incredibly simplistic view of reality.

It also doesn't address the point the parent comment was trying to make. Bill Gates worked hard and now he's rich because of it--why does that mean U.S. citizens need to depend on him to stay healthy?

Sorry but no. He worked hard, sure, for a bit. But he is not as rich as he is because of said work. He is rich because of the hard work of others.

I will automatically have the biggest house in the neighborhood if my bank is willing to write me a blank check and I use it to build a billion-dollar house.

Biggest economy != healthy economy if you can borrow like there is no tomorrow. And thank you, all you suckers in the rest of the world.

I think many countries could benefit from home testing.

The US is perhaps just easier to trial this technology for the Gates foundation, for whatever reason.

Perhaps the plan is to trial/roll this out elsewhere if it succeeds.

Note that GP _isn't_ criticizing the home testing, or the fact that Gates is distributing home tests in the US.

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