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171 Comments
- chang3, on 03/12/2009, -2/+100Anyone here see the movie Gattaca?
- Infidelcastr0, on 03/12/2009, -4/+68Well that's just too damn bad for them. We all know that interfering in the decisions of private companies is COMMUNISM.
- Czechxican, on 03/12/2009, -0/+54This could set a terrifying precedent.
- Kronich, on 03/12/2009, -2/+47This was bound to come up at some point. Pretty soon there will be mandatory genetic screening before you can get health insurance..
- punwin, on 03/12/2009, -3/+29It's pretty common knowledge that there were more English settlers than convicts.
- Hollow5, on 03/12/2009, -0/+22what is it about?
EDIT:
oh wait nvm, i forgot i got internetz - Lunitari, on 03/12/2009, -1/+23GATTACA
- jmoo1, on 03/12/2009, -2/+24Insurance is just a form of gambling, now the odds are even more in favour of the house.
- zbeast, on 03/12/2009, -4/+23Welcome to a world where your health is in the hands of the Insurance company's.
A world where they constantly spew lies about how universal health care will prevent you from seeing your
personal doctor. Welcome to a world where the insurance company's, if you can afford or get
insurance, they choose what treatments you can receive. I would prefer if you die is it's going to cost them any
money to help you.
- dvsbastard, on 03/12/2009, -1/+19What would be nice is a list of the insurers who denied insurance on these grounds, so we can boycott them, letting the industry know we won't stand for it (and giving them a healthy dose of bad publicity).
Keep in mind all insurance companies have always discriminated by age, sex, financial and social status, etc - reticulate, on 03/13/2009, -1/+18Yeah - we have both national healthcare and private insurance.
You get a better room with a nicer menu and wait less time for surgery if you've got private insurance, but the public system isn't terrible. - AReallyGoodName, on 03/12/2009, -3/+18I never quite understood why the insurance companies are allowed to discriminate on gender, race, age and/or genetics at all. Even if there is a statistical basis for one group costing less than another it still breaks the rules we have on equality.
Women can't lift as much as men on average, are we allowed to pay them less for a manual labour job that involves lifting than a man in the equivalent position? No.
Men have more serious car crashes than women are we allowed to charge them more for insurance? Apparantly yes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_insurance#Bas ...
Either allow us to discriminate on anything that has a basis rooted in fact or ban discrimination entirely. - an10ae, on 03/13/2009, -1/+16Ok so It's not as bad as it seems.
In Australia health insurance is a bit of an extra luxury. 70% of all healthcare costs are paid for by the National HIC (government/medicare). As an individual you are responsible for the rest or you can get additional private insurance to pay for the rest if you want. - Infidelcastr0, on 03/13/2009, -0/+15LOL, it's a shame those are so necessary...
- Spamcan, on 03/12/2009, -1/+14Except an early grave or the complete lack of financial protection for your family.
- offrdbandit, on 03/13/2009, -0/+12So why the hell does my Y chromosome cost me more for car insurance?
That's *****. - DiscoLando, on 03/12/2009, -0/+12My jean type is 34x32. Hopefully they won't discriminate those of us with expanding waistlines.
- k3rfuffl3, on 03/12/2009, -0/+11williepepper is an idiot
- AReallyGoodName, on 03/13/2009, -0/+10Ymeg, as an Australian i'd just like to point out to you that you can't drive a car without insurance from a private insurance company in Australia.
It's a law, some types of insurance here are mandatory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_insurance#Pub ... - Fredo521, on 03/12/2009, -0/+10great movie!
- Murdats, on 03/13/2009, -0/+10and you can use your martial arts skills to reshape your eyeballs with your hand to avoid needing glasses.
you can will that hernia away - pintomp3, on 03/13/2009, -1/+11A system that puts people's health at odds with profits is bound to fail.
- AReallyGoodName, on 03/13/2009, -0/+10The free health care here is a safety net. It is by no means luxurious, you share a room with many beds and many other patients in a hospital that has no luxuries (forget having a television or web access in public hospitals here). It just covers the basics. It also has a nice benefit in that there is always somewhere for you to be taken in an emergency regardless of whether your concious enough to tell them what private hospital you belong to or not (seriously how does it work in America? what's the default hospital you are taken to in an emergency? who's the default ambulance provider? do you have mulitple ambulance providers or just one that does public and private hospitals?)
Private health care in Australia on the other hand is one of the best systems in the world. You get your own room with TV, web access staff on call to attend to your needs, good food. The private hospitals here are designed for those that can afford them and it shows.
See? There's still an incentive to get private insurance in Australia but there's also the safety net. - Daxx22, on 03/13/2009, -1/+11Right. No insurance for you!
- monkeywithgun, on 03/13/2009, -1/+10Still doesn't refute the fact that it was a prison colony. Not that that means anything, Texas was pioneered mostly by hardened criminals. That's why the Alamo lasted as long as it did. Tough MFers
- johngcc, on 03/13/2009, -0/+9so for those of you who don't know, insurance is not there to help us (we are not in good hands), its so the fat cats can make more money.
- an10ae, on 03/13/2009, -3/+12I'm confused. Australia has free national health care doesn't it?
- Murdats, on 03/13/2009, -0/+9because somewhere at sometime someone said we have a study
ever since then they have been allowed to rip off half the population for no good reason. - LordSkywalker, on 03/12/2009, -3/+12Just wait 2-3 years. We'll have this crap in the US soon enough.
- cameldung, on 03/13/2009, -0/+8I recall reading that the older women are when they have kids, the likelihood of a genetic problem with the child is increased. I've heard its healthier and safer for women to have children when they are younger.
- cshields, on 03/12/2009, -0/+8Wow.. Simson Garfinkel wrote about this possibility back in 2000 in his book Database Nation (recommended read, but prospects like this are downright scary). The minute we let this kind of discrimination pass, we will forever be divided between people with the "good, desired" genes, and everyone else with flaws.. Good luck finding a date without proof of a good genetic code..
- onemillion, on 03/13/2009, -0/+8Most Americans shouldn't have insurance by these standards.
- twiztidsinz, on 03/13/2009, -0/+8Not really http://www.genome.gov/10002328
- m0zzie, on 03/13/2009, -0/+8Just borrow a nicer pair while you're signing up.
- twiztidsinz, on 03/13/2009, -1/+8You're a posterchild for the benefit of gene discrimination.
- cfuse, on 03/13/2009, -1/+8Nobody in insurance makes a profit by paying out. It's exactly the same as a casino - and you're betting against the house.
- inactive, on 03/13/2009, -0/+6Its not "free" anyway..
Medicare (safety net) insurance is deducted from your Pay As You Earn PAYG wages. The fee is based on income. 20k$ pa and above loose about $800 a year while those earning less get some back, or all.
If you take out private cover you don't pay this fee (it is returned at tax time) and you get a 30% rebate in fees from the government. (welfare for the rich) Private cover starts from (+/-) $500 a year for basic cover but this does not include being billed for other expenses.
IF you have a steady well paying job Private cover is worth it simply for the extra services they provide such as Dental care and private rooms and usually a more local hospital.
Ambulance services are not free at all unless you are on some form of Welfare.
Public Dental does not exist though it should to a definite point, (Which does not include braces for rich kids like last time). Bad teeth equal heart disease and treating heart disease is far more costly than treating bad teeth (a simple clean and plugging)
Dentists here are over the top with their fees. ($170 just to walk in the door)
If Medicare included dental then raising it to $1000 a year is worth it. but on the whole, like a said, it's not free by any means.. - AReallyGoodName, on 03/13/2009, -0/+6Why? Why is it such a bad comparison?
Why can't a company take into account the possible financial liability of an employee just like an insurance company takes on the possible financial liability of a customer?
Why can't a company say 'hey women are more likely to take leave (this is a fact)', why don't we take that into account when hiring them? - linagee, on 03/13/2009, -0/+6Sounds like you will *pay more* for insurance to get a carrier that does "sub-genetic" life insurance. Bad genes = penalized. You, your children, and your children's children will have to deal with this.
- d3dm, on 03/13/2009, -0/+6You forgot the "wax on - wax off" part.
- imightbewrong, on 03/13/2009, -0/+6this is representative of the single most convincing argument for state operated health care, that in the near future genetic history will be so essential to health care that it will impossible for a market system to care for clients with "bad genes", therefore a government system will be necessary allowing a proper "hedging" of those with bad genes and those with more desirable genes
- BotchaMcCoola, on 03/13/2009, -1/+6I don't care if they do have poor genes. I've known several Australians and I like them.
- KnightMareInc, on 03/13/2009, -1/+6good thing thats illegal here in the US.
- geogeer, on 03/13/2009, -0/+5Will you insure me?
Yes.
Good I guess that means I don't need it. - theviceroy, on 03/13/2009, -1/+6Before people go crazy, in the USA there is a federal mandate that any genomic information obtained can not be used for insurance purposes. This is not an argument against universal healthcare, it is an article showing us how dumb Australia is.
- beerhound, on 03/13/2009, -0/+4From that link:
"What's not included?
The law does not cover life insurance, disability insurance and long-term care insurance."
A step in the right direction, but there is still a lot of room for abuse in that exception. - DirtyVicar, on 03/13/2009, -0/+4Hey, it was those people's fault for having bad DNA! They should exercise more and stop being so lazy!
- Headinawheel, on 03/13/2009, -0/+4Yay eugenics. Now, there's corporate eugenics, instead of state sponsored eugenics. So, penalise people who have "faulty" genes gives people with "proper" genes the advantage.
Nevermind that genetic diversity is required at all... - linagee, on 03/13/2009, -1/+5Maybe there should be a tax writeoff of like, $10,000 every year for having better genes than other people. And free or better than free condoms for everyone else.
- TinternAbbot, on 03/13/2009, -1/+5It's actually more like fascism. Really.
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