To me it's apples to oranges.
Did I mention that I thought medicaid cuts would lower my premiums?
Making healthcare competitive might help lower my premiums. Eliminating fraud. Figuring out who is actually entitled to coverage. This might help. Dealing with illegal immigration. This may help.
All great ideas but how are any of hem addressed by this budget plan?
Immigration is indeed a huge prpblem compounding the public markets. Why is it the cuts get dictated in, yet Mr trump has yet to do a damn thing about building a wall or fixing immigration? So if we cut off funding somehow costs for patients will go down, and just by saying I am against illegals and the extra costs they bring suddenly the problem is fixed?
This has always been a problem with republicans, they talk big game with all their slogans "if we didn't have illegal problem then health costs come down so elect me to fix it" Gets into office and "well we can't really fix illegal problem but hey I can cut the budget for Medicaid so the federal govt will save some money to spend on other pork projects or hey just so i can say I saved costs. " great right? A trump style deal?
My taxes pay for NIH research. The government isn't always the best administrator. Maybe it's not research I care a lick about. Or maybe they aren't spending my money the right way. Maybe there needed to be some cuts.
NIH has scientists doing important research but there is intramural and extramural programs. The vast majority of funding for the best academic researchers out there in all kinds of academic institutions (not govt) is from NIH grants. Because the budget is large enough to support all that, including specifically the most important work and it is highly competitive to get one of those grants.
There are other sources of funding for basic research but they are miniscule compared to govt grants.
People will donate to medical research. If they can donate to the creation of the man romper...they will donate to anything.
But not in the amount that is needed to support the ecosystem and fuel medical advances, not the huge amount doled out by NIH.
I give Zuckerberg and his wife credit because they stared an initiative like this to fund specific scientists and research projects with their own riches. (Also competitive to get obviously). But there aren't enough among the wealthiest doing stuff like that. And so the argument that If we defund NIH now, private wealthy ppl will step in to fill the void collectively, is a fallacy because if they are capable of doing it now, why aren't they?
Now do you really believe that if we cut funding to NIH or medicaid your tax bill will go down? I don't see these things as tied and I see the major benefit going to those in highest tax bracket even if that did happen.
Ie me getting a couple hundred dollars check cut to me by George w bush hardly scratched the surface of my huge tax bill and what was the good result from that if we cut healthough care to people who need it in order to cut that check?