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We start this episode by picking up where we left off with Episode #13 talking bout American healthcare. We emphasize that we aren't necessarily for socialized medicine but that some changes need to be made as we have by far the most expensive healthcare for subpar results. We talk about how our current system isnt "free market capitalism" nor is is socialized medicine, it is it's own unique system. Tim says that if he was made the "Benevolent Dictator" of the USA the first thing he would do around healthcare would be to require all prices to be posted in advance so Adam Smith's "Invisible hand" could be put into play to bring price competition to health care. As it is now, pricing is obscured and a patient only finds out about what a procedure costs after the fact, as bills keep coming in the mail from providers the patient never knew was even involved or anticipated what those costs were. We talk about the a 2014 article in the NYT about Peter Drier who had spinal surgery and although the primary care surgeon's bill was $6200, a doctor whom Peter had never met and didnt know had been involved in the surgery sent a bill for $117,000 (NOTE: Tim misremembered it in the podcast as $112,000), because he was "out of network" and network limitations didnt apply. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/us/drive-by-doctoring-surprise-medical-bills.html (https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/us/drive-by-doctoring-surprise-medical-bills.html) The article (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/06/opinion/working-class-death-rate.html (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/06/opinion/working-class-death-rate.html)) that we started discussing in Episode #13 about Deaths of Despair from white blue collar workers recommended that American healthcare needs to be made more about Health (patients) instead of Wealth (doctors). Jimmy states "The Fight is Fixed", and talks about how blue collar workers often avoid going to the doctor because they are afraid of the bills they would come that they can't pay. QUOTE: "What happens when people are afraidn to go see a doctor?" Tim relays a funny story about his doctor quipping that they usually don't show the dead person's feet in the casket at a funeral. We go on to discuss conclusion that economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton made in the original NYT article about Deaths of despair, that the US is not handling the effects of technology changes on our working class as well as other developed countries, when comparing the rapid rise of Deaths of Despair and other deaths of the working class (like heart disease) in the US and other countries. For one, the US has one of the worst income disparities of any developed country. But its not just financial. We talk about what life is like for todays working class vs years ago. Things like constant schedule changes for blue collar workers add stress. One big one is the fact that many blue collar workers no longer work for (get paid from) the company at which they work. More times than not, blue collar workers are hired and paid by staffing companies which takes away the pride of belonging to a company and an organization. We talk about societies loss of a sense of community and a sense of family. Jimmy theorizes that millennials and Gen Z more and more are content to stay in more, based on the age groups he sees at live gigs he does. QUOTE: "Younger folks are content to stay at home and live a virtual life." Tim talks about his experience working for Dupont ("Uncle Dupy") back in the when Dupont ond corporate America had their employee's backs. The authors suggested that the govt should encourage college degrees as college grads are more likely to: be employed, earn more, marry and stay married, be healthy and live longer. Tim talks about graduating from SDSM&T (South Dakota School of Mines and Technology) and how valuable a STEM degree is vs say a liberal arts English degree from a Ivy league school. SDSM&T in a recent study was the only