Strong Disagreements on Aussie Covid coverage
Hey guys, love the show been with it since rising. However I can't help but feel you guys have a bad take on Australia's Covid lockdown's (as an Australian in lockdown myself). I've seen some coverage from American media and its frankly been insulting framing everyone complying as sheep cheering on authoritarianism and celebrating lockdown protesters when most Australians find their actions stupid and selfish for thinking their cause is more important anyone else's (self-righteous grandstanding is a big no no in our culture). So I'll boil down why Australia's covid strategy is largely support by the population to 3 mains reasons. 1. UNLIKE AMERICA the people in charge are just semi-competent (not incompetent) from the beginning of covid the government introduced basically an uncapped PPP program (Sargaar would like that) no one lost their jobs and everyone was paid to stay home. Currently as minimum wage worker (25h/r btw lol)i receive 750$ from the government a week . 2. Australia's cultural and political environment much more community focused than America. We have a universal health care system, the government makes save 9% of your income for retirement called superannuation. We also have more generous welfare system that's easier to access .People here are just more willing to sacrifice so their grandparents don't die and nurses and doctors don't suffer PTSD from being overworked for 2 years straight and because we have government that actually helps us. 3. Consistent bi-partisan government messaging. One thing that is hard for Americans to understand is that covid, vaccines and masks are not a partisan issues here. Both major parties support are basically in sync when it comes to covid. Wearing a mask is not a political statement here its just seen as not being a dickhead. This goes for our media too (excluding sky news which is a pay to access news channel with a viewership of under 100k and whose primetime night slot is hosted by an 80 year old closeted gay man that channels his bottled up anger towards women especially, google "Alan jones, Julia Gillard" if you think i'm lying). [bonus point if you look "Gillard misogyny speech" too] ... Kystaal would enjoy that one. The protests you're seeing consist of around 10-15k people (nationally) in a country of 25 million. My question is will you revisit this topic ? maybe get an Australian journalist or medical professional to discuss with ? Thanks for taking the time to read -B
Buying Saagar Enjeti a Beer
A little freaked out when I was watching the show today (as I have for years, day 1 breaking points premium) and realized you all film the show directly out of my window. 😂. When can I buy Saagar a beer for helping me tolerate my conservative family???? https://imgur.com/a/NHiu08E
Comirnaty vs available Pfizer shot
It's my understanding the Comirnaty has yet to hit production and is FDA approved. The Pfizer shot is still EUA and safeguarded against liability. I would love a Breaking Points reporting on this... If the corporate media is selling this as the same thing and they are clearly not the same, isn't that another misinformation step that allows the people who choose not to get vaccinated to dig in deeper?
Hospital Price Transparency m
Hi Krystal and Sagaar, Love your work and the podcast. I used to be one of those "bloodsucking" consultants in healthcare until I realized everything I did didn't actually DO anything. Anyway, I work for a Health System now and I personally prepared the files for the Hospital Price Transparency rule for my system, and wanted to give some insight: 1) No one wants to be the first to publish in the market; it forces information asymmetry and gives even more power to insurance companies who already have brutal control over negotiations. 2) The average consumer has no idea how to interpret the information, it ONLY includes the amount negotiated with the payer, we have zero information on copays or deductibles. Just because we negotiate a different rate by payer, the consumer might be charged the same. 3) The accuracy of what's published is almost certainly abysmal, the healthcare reimbursement structure is incredibly complex and generating these massive files that meet the requirements accurately are almost impossible, I wouldn't be surprised if the colonoscopy numbers in the piece you referenced were just flat out wrong. Hope you find this interesting, looking forward to your thoughts.