On TB- My docs boiled it down to Cfers being less likely to contract it because we have so much in our lungs anyway and are doing a lot of preventative care. Since TB happens a lot in bad environments or to populations lacking preventative care we are just less likely to get it.
ON healthcare- the current system of research is rather new, the university and non profit based system in use around the world and in the US long ago was taken over by Pharma companies who got research docs by offering bigger salaries thus raising the price of drugs, and when these companies go public they have a shareholder burden to bear. For something like health care research to be for profit just adds to the expenses the since have to pay. I even asked my doc who worked on Kalydeco if she thought that non for profits could do it, she said yes. Obviously there would be differences in funding mechanisms, but research would still happen. Earth science and social science research is a good analogy to biotech research, it does alot of research and gets good results. There is also the philosophical argument that the money our government puts into subsidizing research should not go to for profit companies.
Government run healthcare is a whole other issue. Any good policy analsyst will tell you that the government is one of the best tools for being in charge of healthcare and social safety nets. The notion that Social security has an expiration date is true only if you think that nothing will be done about it in the next 50 years. Experience tells us other wise. Really if you tune out of the cable news networks and spend some quality time on good policy sites, the Center on public policy and budget is good, as it the ford or rand foundations, you see that we are not in the dire straits that media likes to paint for us. Yes the economy sucks, but it can get better. The same goes for healthcare and education.
The debt we have really is not an issue, governments have the ability to create capital because money does not really exist, not even in gold. Ultimately the economy is a measure of how our society if functioning, at times like this it is important to support welfare programs and keep individuals and communities from falling into poverty and lift those who have up so they can be more productive. I know it sounds cliche, but implementing austerity measures, especially the "welfare reform" or anything pushed by Rep Ryan is like starving a hungry person and expecting them to get better. To control the debt we need to do a better job of regulating income inequality and redistributing wealth so that poorer communities can get out of the safety net. Other countries do it, we don't because we have very differing ideologies within our country. There is also the fact the the budget deficit has a lot to do with us not wanting to pass taxes. As much as it sucks taxes are good, they pay for things we need to be a functioning society, however they have not grown in proportion to wealth and then with these wars adding to costs. It is an easy fix, it is just gonna be weird for us to do.
I have talked to vets and there are some aspects of tricare which are horrible, the DOD doesnt want to spend money keeping people alive, it is against their nature. The VA is horribly underfunded, but that is the problem the funding is not there. There is alot of skill employed at the VA and Tricare, they just do not have the funding to run it as best they can. This is especially true in regards to mental health where there is the bare minimum of funding. However some of the vets I talk too are starting to like the reforms recently put in place and they love tricare. A lot of the stories about vets coming back from Vietnam and even the first part of Iraq/Afghanistan do not apply anymore. Other government heal programs, SCHiP, Medicaid, and Medicare run very well, they are suffering from budget cuts. So please do not doubt the government's ability to run a program, they do it quite well. Anyway the benefits out weigh the costs on ACA.
Perhaps the biggest change that will have to happen is in how much we let people lie to us under the first amendment so that we can make good reasonable choices, be able to see the horrible levels of inequality in the US, see how others try to manipulate the middle class into voting against itself and keep us from being so emotional about things that we cant actually get anything done, instead of being bombarded with bad news programs, meaningless political scandal, and political commercials creating huge fears out of non issues. In all I believe that working towards a public solution rather than a private one and holding the health of our society above profit is important for us to thrive as a nation.
Best wishes.
