I’m actually against that. Not against an UBI per se, but against it replacing all welfare programs.
The main issue here is that needs vary a lot, and depending on your specific needs, an UBI might not begin to cover them.
One of my kids has Cystic Fibrosis, which leads to frequent hospital stays. One of the main medications (Kaftrio, that stuff is a miracle drug, it’s crazy how well it works) costs ~€350k per year.
UBI would be a drop in the ocean in this regard.
The same goes for a lot of other conditions. For example, a nursing home costs way more than any UBI would cover, but also if you have a disability that would require frequent assistance and/or a modified home or some special kind of transport, UBI would be just not enough.
I would think that having procedures, medications and other medical costs covered under universal healthcare and having a non-means tested or work gated UBI would be a hell of a lot better than the current Medicaid and SSI disability nightmares.
I include both of these together because currently the overhead expenditures for managing and running both the collective welfare programs at all levels and our for-profit healthcare system run at the behest of and for the profits of health insurance burn a significant amount of both money and time.
Needs may vary a lot, but having hoops to jump through to maintain eligibility for multiple welfare programs and under constant threat of being kicked off of any of them doesn’t seem to be the right answer to me.
But that’s where socialized healthcare comes in. None of what you brought up would have to be covered by any sort of UBI. Especially since if we had a national UBI we would probably already have socialized healthcare since the latter would be easier to get through than the former.
That’s the thing, though: many people advocating for UBL argue that it should replace ALL benefits (like the person I responded to) because, according to them, the UBL would cover all issues already. Generally speaking, people who argue like that are under 30 and haven’t had any serious contact with chronic conditions and don’t even consider the existence of anything worse than a broken leg.
Special needs (not only disabilities but all sorts of special circumstances) are complex, and UBL is a simple solution for complex issues. And a system like UBL needs to work for everyone, not only for most people.
First guy was like “UBI should replace everything”. Then I said “Watch out, everything is not a good idea because e.g. health care costs vary wildly”. Second guy was like “Nobody is arguing for UBI without socialized healthcare”. To which I said “Well, some people do”. And then you came here and said “But second guy literally said he wants socialized healthcare”.
Here, let me quote his last paragraph before the edit for you:
I may not be the target audience though as I also totally want socialized healthcare, free education extending into the collegiate level, and a UBI replacing all welfare programs, because those fall under the “General Welfare” set out by the Constitution and those things would cost less than what we have now for far better outcomes.
See that “I also totally want socialized healthcare” line?
I would like to point out that I did 100% say Universal Healthcare, and nowhere did I implay keeping our shitty healthcare system with a UBI. To further clarify, UBI should only replace welfare programs, so stuff like food stamps, WIC, TANIF, state welfare, social security, etc. because those have restrictions and fuck people over almost as many times as they help them.
Social Security probably won’t be solvent in 50 years, food stamps are great until you make a dollar over the max allowable and lose all food assistance, WIC is great until your infant is just a little older and you lose all assistance. SSDI takes years to begin receiving and is, once again, subject to being dropped for any of a variety of reasons.
I’m actually against that. Not against an UBI per se, but against it replacing all welfare programs.
The main issue here is that needs vary a lot, and depending on your specific needs, an UBI might not begin to cover them.
One of my kids has Cystic Fibrosis, which leads to frequent hospital stays. One of the main medications (Kaftrio, that stuff is a miracle drug, it’s crazy how well it works) costs ~€350k per year.
UBI would be a drop in the ocean in this regard.
The same goes for a lot of other conditions. For example, a nursing home costs way more than any UBI would cover, but also if you have a disability that would require frequent assistance and/or a modified home or some special kind of transport, UBI would be just not enough.
I would think that having procedures, medications and other medical costs covered under universal healthcare and having a non-means tested or work gated UBI would be a hell of a lot better than the current Medicaid and SSI disability nightmares.
I include both of these together because currently the overhead expenditures for managing and running both the collective welfare programs at all levels and our for-profit healthcare system run at the behest of and for the profits of health insurance burn a significant amount of both money and time.
Needs may vary a lot, but having hoops to jump through to maintain eligibility for multiple welfare programs and under constant threat of being kicked off of any of them doesn’t seem to be the right answer to me.
But that’s where socialized healthcare comes in. None of what you brought up would have to be covered by any sort of UBI. Especially since if we had a national UBI we would probably already have socialized healthcare since the latter would be easier to get through than the former.
That’s the thing, though: many people advocating for UBL argue that it should replace ALL benefits (like the person I responded to) because, according to them, the UBL would cover all issues already. Generally speaking, people who argue like that are under 30 and haven’t had any serious contact with chronic conditions and don’t even consider the existence of anything worse than a broken leg.
Special needs (not only disabilities but all sorts of special circumstances) are complex, and UBL is a simple solution for complex issues. And a system like UBL needs to work for everyone, not only for most people.
He literally said “I totally want socialized healthcare”.
Follow the thread, read the context.
First guy was like “UBI should replace everything”. Then I said “Watch out, everything is not a good idea because e.g. health care costs vary wildly”. Second guy was like “Nobody is arguing for UBI without socialized healthcare”. To which I said “Well, some people do”. And then you came here and said “But second guy literally said he wants socialized healthcare”.
Here, let me quote his last paragraph before the edit for you:
See that “I also totally want socialized healthcare” line?
I would like to point out that I did 100% say Universal Healthcare, and nowhere did I implay keeping our shitty healthcare system with a UBI. To further clarify, UBI should only replace welfare programs, so stuff like food stamps, WIC, TANIF, state welfare, social security, etc. because those have restrictions and fuck people over almost as many times as they help them.
Social Security probably won’t be solvent in 50 years, food stamps are great until you make a dollar over the max allowable and lose all food assistance, WIC is great until your infant is just a little older and you lose all assistance. SSDI takes years to begin receiving and is, once again, subject to being dropped for any of a variety of reasons.