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| ▲ | TehCorwiz 10 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | The whole "anonymous bureaucrat" shtick doesn't land anymore. The purpose of having long-term non-political staff is so that operations don't change on a whim when some rogue director comes in and wants a second Ferrari. The reason government spends more AND is paradoxically more efficient is because most of the work of those bureaucrats is tracking, reporting, and reconciliation. That's the whole deal. Congress passes laws and in those laws is usually an obscene and near impossible amount of auditing. I trust government staff far more than the decision of unregulated, greedy corporations who literally exist to extract the most money from whatever process they're trying to sell you. | | |
| ▲ | nickpp 5 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | > greedy corporations who literally exist to extract the most money Every single product and service I am using in my life is made by a corporation. The clothes I wear, the food I eat, the car I drive, the PC I am making my living on. Government?! Decaying infrastructure, lines at the DMV, crappy schools and killer hospitals. You may trust the government if you want, but I will never. However, you are the only one pushing your choice onto me and reducing my options. I am fine with you using private or governmental services but you won't allow me this freedom of choice. | |
| ▲ | bko 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Can you name someone that is a long-term non-political person that is making these decisions? I have trouble believing empowering people who have no risk of losing their job and no one knows they exist is the best model for making decisions for other people. | | |
| ▲ | TehCorwiz 9 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | The entirety of Medicaid and Medicare. EDIT: Also the whole VA system. | | |
| ▲ | bko 42 minutes ago | parent [-] | | Who runs Medicaid, Medicare or VA? Name the person. Who is held responsible? These are just words at this point and its an ideological battle. You have no idea. |
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| ▲ | nobody9999 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | >I have trouble believing empowering people who have no risk of losing their job and no one knows they exist is the best model for making decisions for other people. You mean like the (non-medical doctors) third-parties contracted by my private insurance provider who routinely deny important care[0] and even reject pre-approvals for antibiotics for MRSA infections even after multiple interactions with several medical doctors confirming both the diagnosis (with accompanying pathology) and the appropriate course of treatment. Yeah, you keep that rolled up newspaper handy so you can "Gub'mint bad! Bad Gub'mint!" I hope you never have to deal with a life-threatening situation where your insurer flatly refuses to cover treatment until after you're dead or have body parts amputated. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46291740 |
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| ▲ | Retric 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | > Do you have enough information about decisions? Me personally, No. I don’t have enough information to make informed decisions here and you don’t either. Off the top of your head, how well educated is your dentist? You after all made an informed decision picking them. So how well did their background compare to others in your area. What where your concerns about their dental programs weaknesses and how was that offset by… Except no let me guess that never entered your mind did it. | | |
| ▲ | bko 9 hours ago | parent [-] | | > Off the top of your head, how well educated is your dentist? My dentist cleans my teeth. If it's painful every time I come or I keep getting cavities I consider changing dentists. If they suggest I replace my teeth with veneers or something extreme, I consider someone else. And I'll do a few google searches. It seems pretty normal. You don't do this? | | |
| ▲ | Retric 9 hours ago | parent [-] | | So you didn’t look into their overall competence just the superficial aspects that occur to everyone. I agree that’s normal, but it’s also the underlying problem I was pointing to. So you don’t need to continue, you just proved my point. |
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| ▲ | overfeed 9 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | > I'm sorry but I refuse to believe some unelected, anonymous bureaucrat has my best interests in mind or can even know me anything about me such that I want to allow them to make health decisions for me. I'm sorry to tell you that this is, but unelected bureaucrats are constantly making health decisions on your behalf. You may not want government bureaucrats, but bureaucrats already work in your employer's HR department, deciding on which insurer to partner with, and with what benefits. They are at your insurance company, doctors office, and hospital administration, negotiating and deciding which procedures and drugs are available to you without ever asking for your opinion. Bureaucrats you didn't vote for infest drug company's research and finance offices, determining the availability and cost of your present and future care. None of these even pretend to act in your interests. I'd rather have some government bureaucrat preside over all the other predatory bureaucrats. I sure as hell wouldn't be make well-informed decisions in the ER, or after getting a cancer diagnosis. Further, it is impossible to compare provider quality and final costs for elective, cosmetic procedures when I'm under no time pressure or stress. | | |
| ▲ | bko 9 hours ago | parent [-] | | Sure, in that regard bureaucrats make sure my grocer has full shelves. There are likely dozens if not hundreds of people responsible for my local grocer just to make sure I have food. I have no problem with bureaucrats. I want a choice. If I come in one day to find the shelves empty, I go somewhere else. If they make it difficult for me to check out, or are too expensive, I change. I just want choice. You can choose to listen to the same unelected anonymous bureaucrats. Just log on to FDA or whatever, and follow their advice (e.g. follow the food pyramid). Only one of us wants to remove choice from the other, and that's the difference. |
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