4552 Medicare for All

Is this a goal post? Does the ball on the spike has a dollar sign engraved on the back?

Be careful what you wish for. A number of dems running for the party’s presidential nomination want this. But what does it really mean?

Sanders’ plan calls for free care for everyone with no co-pays and no bills.  That’s ideal. But is it possible?  Probably not, given the nature of congress and the country at the moment.

Buttigieg wants Medicare for “those who want it,” which is not a bad idea because it gives you some choices.  But it’s also a plan that sets up a conflict between the current broken medical insurance industry and the federal government. As far as we can tell, no country with “universal” healthcare uses this system.

Bloomberg thinks this will bankrupt the federal government. But the figures aren’t there.  Biden? Who knows? Warren? Medicare for all, but with restrictions.

In point of fact, “Medicare for all” in any iteration would put the federal government in direct competition with the current -- and idiotic -- health insurance system.  

Opponents say Medicare for all would wreck the insurance industry.  Who better to wreck?  But the workers at Blue Cross and Kaiser are human beings and they’d likely be put out of work. 

“All” would cost millions of paper pushing jobs.  But it also would let Washington negotiate with the Big Pharma for lower prices.  Why should Canadians pay so much less than we do for the same drugs?  Why would someone needing meds for two major ailments have to pick a “preferred” organ to treat if unable to afford treatment for both?

Yes, “Medicare for all” would get coverage for the 27 million Americans who are still uninsured and the countless number who are underinsured.

Do I have a solution?  No.  And no one else really does either even if they say they do.  But here’s a start.  Make sure the nonprofits really are non-profit. And the first place to start is with compensation for the top 10% of corporate leadership.

Step two: compel doctors and hospitals to bill at reasonable prices. No one’s going to have to take a sizeable pay cut.

Step three: Medicare for all but one step at a time.

SHRAPNEL: 

--trump is releasing all these convicts from prison. Blagojevich, Milken, Kerik and eight others.  Meantime people busted for smoking a joint continue serving their multi-year -- sometimes multi-decade -- sentences and that ain’t right.

I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®

Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com

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