Comic #4624: healthcare
Description
Here's a detailed text description of the comic:
Panel 1: A person with a beard and orange hair speaks to a woman with brown hair. The text reads: "Hey geeks! It's me. I live in Charlottesville, VA (a usually great college town in Western Virginia). I recently attended an emergency meeting of local freelancers and small business owners."
Panel 2: The bearded man continues: "The reason for the meeting? The price for health insurance increased about 240% in our county this year. That's a precise figure because there literally only one provider for individuals."
Panel 3: Another person, also with a beard, adds: "Just to stick some numbers on that – a plan that was $13,000 a year is now $30,000 a year. We've read of people whose plans will cost $50,000 a year if you count out of pocket costs."
Panel 4: A woman with dark hair expresses frustration: "People were pretty desperate. I seriously considered that, since I've been told my husband’s job subsidized."
Panel 5: The bearded man responds: "(That seems like collusion to me!)"
Panel 6: A woman with glasses says: "Another woman had been told that she ought to have a baby to secure a lower rate."
Panel 7: The bearded man reacts: "That's not the right story! Can you imagine telling your kid one day?"
Panel 8: He continues: "A number of people were simply planning to do less work, artificially lowering their income in order to qualify for subsidies."
Panel 9: The speaker reflects: "We discussed possible strategies and alternatives for healthcare for over an hour, with no good solutions in sight."
Panel 10: The bearded man adds: "The one moment of levity came when someone suggested 'taking a cubicle job' as an alternative to paying for emergency care without insurance."
Panel 11: He clarifies: "To be clear, this isn't going to turn into asking for money, and I have had a lot of thoughts on this – I'm talking to all of you!"
Panel 12: A woman responds: "But, we would like to think one of the country’s strengths is how we value individuals, music, and comics – not just labor and worse."
Panel 13: The bearded man: "Healthcare like we have here effectively excludes those people. It says that if you're doing something interesting that people like – whether it’s popular tribal commentary or being an interior consultant – you'd better keep within someone else's corporate structure. You'd rather make no money doing it."
Panel 14: A discussion follows with another person stating: "Right now it costs about $30,000 per American to provide healthcare. That's more than it costs in comparable countries."
Panel 15: The bearded man emphasizes: "It's at core a policy problem."
Panel 16: Another participant highlights: "A better rate if we have to. A lot of people can't. And if they can't afford health insurance, they'll have to choose between closing up shop or simply going without."
Panel 17: A woman adds: "Our county is basically ground zero for sudden huge increases on very small businesses. But, if insurance premiums continue to spike like this, a lot more self-employed people in your region are going to start considering their options."
Panel 18: The bearded man concludes: "So, we're basically asking politicians, activists, or anyone with the power to effect change. Can we please have a healthcare system that works for small businesses?"
Panel 19: The final character quips: "Pretty please?"
This transcription aims to capture all dialogue and key elements of the comic for a comprehensive understanding.