> This is absurd. That the US is a country where business, markets, profits have been prioritized over people is blatantly obvious for everyone that's not a free market fundamentalist where every single instance of a negative outcome needs to be excused by either "it's not free enough" or "other's are actually also rather free", or ofc, put the blame on the government.
> And the differences in worker benefits and welfare (etc...) is not empirical evidence of a society that's gotten way too hooked on capitalism?
Many countries with strong unions have seen a similar or even greater decline in labor share of income than the US. The US is not really much different than any other advanced economy on that front: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insight... (page 5). In the US, labor’s share of income is less than France, about the same as Germany, and more than Spain. It’s significantly higher than Sweden, which has robust unions. Moreover, nearly all the decline in labor’s share of income happened between 2000 and today (page 6). The decrease was very slight from 1947 to 2000. But unions stopped being a significant force in the US long before 2000.
> In a well functioning society your job should not exist.
This reaction of yours is illuminating, because it shows how little you know about how healthcare even works. I don't work for an insurance company, I write software that's used by insurance companies to process claims and price fees. This is an abstract actuarial function that's necessary regardless of whether a private entity or a public entity is the insurer. Public government insurers do not manually process claims by hand one-by-one. Ditto pricing, I work on generating fee schedules. You know where else fee schedules are used? Medicare and Medicaid. Their actuaries use software similar to what I work on to model risk and determine what premiums (or tax contributions) should be, and how much physicians should be paid.
I make a statement that countries have realized that the free market is harmful in certain spheres and you go on about the economy as a whole instead, which I have never claimed to not be capitalist/market economies.
I make a statement about the vast difference in worker benefits and welfare and you go on about the labor's share of income instead, which I have never claimed to be higher.
> I write software that's used by insurance companies to process claims and price fees
Insurance companies should play no role in healthcare, and they certainly don't where I live.
When you’re backed into a corner, you appear to resort to name calling and hostility, as always.
I’m directly addressing your arguments by showing you that reality is a lot more complicated than you seem to think, by the numbers. Your entire world view neatly fits into a packaged ideology that only seems to reconcile with a warped version of how the US actually works (as well as other countries).
> Insurance companies should play no role in healthcare, and they certainly don't where I live.
I understand you feel that way. What I’m saying is that my software is used by your government. My job will exist regardless of who is actually paying for healthcare, because I’m not in the business of financing, I’m in the business of claims processing, provider payment, and automated price generation. These are functions that government payers also use to pay physicians and to drive their per capita costs down also. It will always be a part of the value chain.
Also, private insurance companies play a role in healthcare in many prosperous countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.
You haven't directly addressed anything. I just gave you two very clear examples where you just change the subject to something I've never claimed instead of answering the questions/arguments.
This is a bit of word salad, but 1) these traits exist in so many other advanced wealthy countries that pointing it out is irrelevant, and 2) the US is a mixed economy -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States
> I mean it in a general sense, free market, capitalist, market oriented society that applies it to much more spheres of society than other countries.
Yes, and all of those countries I listed out are "free market" "capitalist" "market oriented" societies.
Switzerland -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Switzerland
Singapore -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Singapore
Taiwan -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Taiwan
Japan -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Japan
New Zealand -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_New_Zealand
Australia -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Australia
Belgium -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Belgium
Canada -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Canada
etc
> And the differences in worker benefits and welfare (etc...) is not empirical evidence of a society that's gotten way too hooked on capitalism?
Many countries with strong unions have seen a similar or even greater decline in labor share of income than the US. The US is not really much different than any other advanced economy on that front: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insight... (page 5). In the US, labor’s share of income is less than France, about the same as Germany, and more than Spain. It’s significantly higher than Sweden, which has robust unions. Moreover, nearly all the decline in labor’s share of income happened between 2000 and today (page 6). The decrease was very slight from 1947 to 2000. But unions stopped being a significant force in the US long before 2000.
> In a well functioning society your job should not exist.
This reaction of yours is illuminating, because it shows how little you know about how healthcare even works. I don't work for an insurance company, I write software that's used by insurance companies to process claims and price fees. This is an abstract actuarial function that's necessary regardless of whether a private entity or a public entity is the insurer. Public government insurers do not manually process claims by hand one-by-one. Ditto pricing, I work on generating fee schedules. You know where else fee schedules are used? Medicare and Medicaid. Their actuaries use software similar to what I work on to model risk and determine what premiums (or tax contributions) should be, and how much physicians should be paid.