Medicare for all would work

[AngryAmish]

Raise taxes on everyone in order to pay for it. If one wants to have private insurance and care, so be it. Medical providers do not have to take Medicare (except in emergencies).

Of course if you pay a premium (for private insurance) you get to go to the better hospital and doctor (or at least those who charge more). But doctors will be guaranteed a minimum income.

It would work, I tell yas.

[BzaDem]

1. What is with this Medicare for All fetish

Of course Medicare for All would be efficient and tremendously help people. That doesn't mean it is any closer to passing than it was when Bush was president. I don't get it. There are huge numbers of things that people really really want but realize that they are not going to get; why can't people make that realization for this bill in this Congress?

[CountAllVotes]

3. and what about all of the doctors that do not take Medicare?

there are plenty of them btw. They reap the profits of the medical system being they do not take Medicare. That bill for $200.00 is paid by the client. With Medicare, that bill might be reduced to $50.00 and that is all the doctor gets if they are willing to accept Medicare assignment. If they don't, you pay the entire $200.00 bill.

Why do I think this will never go through? Reason: Not enough $$$ to be paid out to the doctors that want those big bucks is why.

:kick:

[Cleita]

6. Really and where are you getting those "facts".

As a person on Medicare, I have no problem getting doctors to take my Medicare although I agree that the fee schedule should be updated to reflect today's economy. On the other hand, when my DH had a Medicare Advantage plan (private HMOs and insurance paid for by Medicare), most providers in my area wouldn't accept it. I had to put him back on traditional Medicare and in the nick of time because he suffered from kidney failure and had to go on dialysis, which Medicare paid for without ever missing a month. Also, at that time, since I wasn't old enough for Medicare, my private insurance was also snubbed by most of the care givers in my county because of denials of coverage and slow payment.

[CountAllVotes]

8. there is one dermatologist where I live

and no, he does not take Medicare. He doesn't need to take Medicare because he has no competition. He charges $250.00 for an appt. and demands payment up front. If you don't have the money, then no appt. for you.

Same goes for other specialized practices where I live. In fact, the local orthopedic practice recently sent out letters saying that if they did not start getting higher payments from Medicare they were no longer going to take it.

There are other examples too but I won't bother to bore you with the details (much the same scenario as described above). So, they gotcha, they get away with it as it is legal and there is not jack you can do about it. :(

:kick:

[uponit7771]

2. Why would we have to raise taxes, people just start payin medicare premiums?

There's no charge for me to switch HCI providers now why should there be on a medicare option?
Thx

[damntexdem]

4. And allow Medigap for all who want to spend more for broader care.

But reform Part D: allow price negotiation with pharma companies, end the donut hole, and consider price controls on drugs. And don't subsidize private alternative to Medicare, a la Advantage.

[andym]

5. It would work well, but if we want it, we need to change

If we want it in the future, we need to

1) lessen corporate influence, perhaps by campaign finance, and greater regulations on ex-government representatives

2) change prevailing ideologies (left over from Reagan) that
a) taxes can't be raised.
b) government run services are inefficient and inferior to the private sector.
c) government run services are bureaucratic, inefficient and inflexible, and lead to loss of personal freedoms.

Until the center buys into the ideas that
a) taxes should be increased when necessary, especially if they offset waste in the private sector
b) government services can be superior to the private sector
c) government run services can be flexible and affect their freedoms less than the private sector.

we won't have any new government programs in the public interest including single-payer.

[Cleita]

7. I'm on Medicare and even limping along like it is with all the damage

previous Republican administrations and Congresses have done to it, it's far superior to any insurance I ever have had before I qualified for Medicare. It's what we need for a public option and it should be available to anyone who wants it.

[andym]

9. Your story needs to be in the mainstream, to help make single-payer a reality

Most people on Medicare know that it's good. But somehow many of these people, including those in Medicare, still repeat the nonsense about the government. My post is the result of talking up single-payer with dozens of people. You can not imagine how many have the underlying assumptions that I made in my post, even here in liberal California. It is my opinion that until those assumptions are defeated (relegated to a small group of conservatives), the political will to get any new "entitlement" will be weak.