Subsidies aside, the same drugs sell for more in the US. Regulation (or lack of) is part of it.
But not because it was cheaper, in most cases.
Except the US has tons of bases around the world, they are active in something like 100 countries. It’s not about protecting Canada from China.
Apparently Cuba is not a bad place to go for medical procedures, if you have money you can get a good doctor, good treatment, and it’s much cheaper.
I know that. What I am saying is that you shouldn’t try to paint it all one color. What you said was true but it also implied it was a one-way road. It’s never been that way.
No, subsidies not aside. Subsidies ARE a key reason that most drugs are cheaper in the EU than the US. That’s the point. It’s something that bears on cost to govt to implement.
The things you choose to take at face value and the things you tend to question on end are very strange. There’s no way I’d EVER choose to be seen in Cuba for a medical procedure.
But aren’t the prices already lower before the subsidy due to government regulation? In Canada you don’t get any kind of subsidy unless you are on welfare, disability, or old age pension but prescription drugs are still cheaper. One of the criticisms I hear over here is that we are on of the few countries with “free” healthcare where we still pay the full price for drugs.
People have told me they went to doctors and had minor surgeries and such in Cuba and it was totally fine. You’re American so you aren’t going to Cuba anyway. I’m sure if you have enough money you can get better treatment in the US, but as far as third world countries go, Cuba has a decent medical system for those who can afford it.
What do you think subsidies are?
Subsidies ARE government regulation of prices, whether by fiat and collective bargaining or by indulgence, or both.
Subsidies are where the governement pays part or all the cost of a prescription. Regulated prices mean that the pharmaceutical company is not allowed to sell its drugs above a certain price. In Canada, the price of pharmaceutical drugs is regulated, but only certain people (welfare, disability, pension) get a subsidized price.
Sure, and? Any ally that doesn’t want us there, I say we pack our shit and leave, no worries. We tried to do that in Germany and they freaked the fuck out. Why? Is it that they may have to invest in their own defense? How then, would they give free shit to their illegal Syrian population?
As far as bases in those countries we beat in war as a means to keep the peace, though shit. If they were better fighters they would have won. They lost, so they have to take it.
I know for a fact that it is over rated. Yeah, it’s cheaper, but you get what you pay for. Many people have gone to Cuba to get things done cheaper and it didn’t turn out so good.
The whole ‘Cuban medicine is good’ idea is pure propaganda. My aunt was a physician there and she could have all the talent in the world, but it doesn’t much matter when you do not have the tools and resources. I don’t know if she was any good or not, I only met her once.
Cuban medicine is above and beyond for a hellhole 3rd world country, that is true. But it’s no where near the U.S. and I presume Canada.
Think about it, where did you hear that Cuba has excellent medicine? What scientific journal backed that up? None, it’s just what people say.
Some moron like Bernie goes there and comes back and raves about their medicine in the media and we all are like, “Wow! Who knew, Cuba’s actually kinda cool!”
I would rather go to a hospital in Havana then Mexico City, but that’s a pretty low bar, overall.
Remember what happened in Iraq a few months back? The opposite.
But they have US puppet governments in most of those places, seems like a big waste of money. The only justification is imperialism.
I know someone who went to Mexico City to get dental work done, way cheaper and some of the dentists here are pretty fucked up. The Canadian dentist screwed up the job and wanted to charge more to fix it, the Mexican got it done right for much less.
From what I understand about Cuba, if you are a poor Cuban then you get shit treatment. If you have money (as a Cuban or foreigner) and/or the right connections then you can get very good treatment. If you have money or good insurance in the US you can probably get the best treatment in the world, with Canada the difference is that everyone can get treatment except they might keep you in a storage room or the hallway because hospitals are over capacity.
I did say ‘ally’, which Iraq was not. And yeah, it was a mess and the fledgling government was begging us not to leave because they weren’t ready. If we are talking about the same thing.
Not a fan of nation building. Keeping the peace is one thing, trying to rebuild the country in our image was a fatal mistake. I’m not saying it’s all good, just if you pick a fight with the U.S., be ready for it.
There will always be exceptions. It’s a question of where would you rather be in case of emergency.
Yes, that’s true to a point. You will definitely get better treatment than the average Cuban, but relative to 1st world countries it’s not as good, barring exceptions of course.
That can happen here too. We have the best hospitals in the world, but we also have some super shitty ones. We just happen to have way more really good ones than anywhere else. But the shitty ones are, well, shitty.
Pat doesn’t understand why we have bases in other countries. He is out of his depth on this topic so I would suggest not arguing about it with him. He’ll just regurgitate whatever he read on FB.
But it is now since the government was replaced.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-idUSKBN1Z409A
The US was certainly not keeping any sort of peace when they invaded.
It was the US who picked a fight.
I guess it depends of a variety of factors, one being hospitals at 120%+ in Ontario before COVID. My point was just that you can get good treatment at a relatively chepa price in some poor countries if you have the money.
So it’s possible that someone with a meagre income could actually get better treatment in a place like Cuba or Mexico, because the US alternative would be shit treatment and/or drowning in hospital bills.
I would say that’s debatable.
And I guess we were talking about different things, I was referring to the disaster that was the troop pullout in 2011.
That’s why they call it ‘war’.
Oh, not so fast. I remember the situation being a bit more complicated than the talking points we refer to now.
War with Iraq was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Remember that Saddam was a maniac and he violated pretty much every tenet and every UN resolution of the peace agreement from the 1st Iraq war.
Even under Clinton we had skirmishes with Iraq and lobbed a few Cruise Missiles his way. You have a point about the WMD’s, but that wasn’t the only reason anyway. However, this is a much larger discussion this side bar couldn’t really handle. We can talk about it, but I would suggest moving threads.
Yeah, true.
Yeah, it’s possible. I guess it depends on what for. I wouldn’t get a heart transplant in Cuba, but I might have my tonsils out.
So now mass evictions are looming, and beside this being an inevitable consequence of the shutdowns and restrictions, it is also partly a manufactured crisis by some sort of communist provocateurs.
It started like this with people organizing to refuse to pay rent:
Now a few months later when faced with eviction:
So what happens when the landlord goes bankrupt and electricity, heat, and water are cut off? Someone has to pay the bill.
The landlord! The landlord needs to ensure the comfort of voters while giving up his right to their property. Or something.
Some of these people want to abolish landlords altogether. Of course they can’t manage and maintain apartment buildings themselves, so then the government will be expected to take control.
Of course they do! Why should they have to pay some white guy just because he owns a building?
Ah, that’s just crazy talk.
The building will maintain itself once its tenants combine forces to sing Kumbaya. They need only summon the maintenance spirits.
Some of the biggest landlords here are Indians.
Ah, yes. I’m familiar with this type of white supremacist.
Perhaps “Indo-European supremacist” is a more appropriate term.
Because in their racist minds they can’t imagine there are black landlords. They can’t imagine that a black person could become a landlord.
Of course.