Wouldn't it make things clearer if our candidate just said Medicare for everybody?

[NNN0LHI]

I think this universal health care we keep hearing our candidates explain is just confusing everyone even more. It does me. Medicare has built in limits on what providers can charge and it seems to work pretty well for my parents.

Its like our candidates want it so confusing we don't know what they are talking about. I can't make heads or tails of what they are talking about and I have been paying attention.

Don

[mikelgb]

1. ditto

HR 676

[CountAllVotes]

2. from a letter from my aunt I rec'd the other day

This is regarding my uncle:

>> Things atr not real good here. * is not doing well. He is dizzy a lot and he fell again last Sunday night and looks like I beat his arm with a big bat. Took him to the Dr because his cholesterol is way, way too low and wasn't pleased with the Dr.s attitude. He did put * on Atnicet (for memory) but we made an appointment to meet another internist next Friday. This one we have has just missed too many things and passes them off almost with a shrug. After the new guy hears all of his ailments he may not want to take him on, but we are keeping our fingers crossed. <<

Is Medicare for All really the answer? Think again please! :think: :think: :think:

[NNN0LHI]

3. What does Medicare have to do with your uncles condition?

What would "universal" health care do for him that Medicare is not?

I never suggested Medicare would keep us all ailment free. Its about paying the bills. And I hope your uncle recovers well.

Don

[CountAllVotes]

4. my uncle is on Medicare

and looky at the great health care he gets! They "accidently" cut out one of his kidneys last year and he almost died. They thought he had cancer and did not. Quality care? :wtf:

btw: My uncle is about 85 years old and worked his entire life for a large company. Furthermore, there is nothing wrong with "his memory". :mad:

[NNN0LHI]

5. Who is "they" though?

Medicare didn't diagnose him and remove his kidney.

They pay the bills.

I think your problem is with the doctor your uncle chose to work for him rather than Medicare who just pays the bills.

Plus I would sign up right now for 85 years old if it were offered to me. 85 is pretty damn good.

Don

[CountAllVotes]

6. did you see the part about "hoping the new doctor would take him"?

Not all doctors (in fact few good ones) take Medicare. That IS the reality of it!

As for my uncle, the doctors, paid by Medicare made this decision. It angers me to see the way he is being treated being he seems to have very few options as to who is able to see and not see.

I believe he deserves a lot more, like something called "quality health care", not this sort of trash treatment!

:kick:

[Thothmes]

9. This is a problem for a lot of new Medicare patients

The old bat that I see regularly will not take any new Medicaid patients and hasn't for a couple of years. The reimbursement rates keep declining and she stated that she could not stay in business for very long if she had to depend solely on medicare to pay her patients bills. While I do not challenge her veracity, I wonder if this is a wide spread problem for those physicians in private practice.

[Mojorabbit]

10. Most doctors do take medicare

but it does not pay very well. The same doctor will also take blue cross and most other insurances. Are you thinking there are special doctors that work for medicare?. It is only an insurance. They keep cutting the amt they are paying the docs that take medicare insurance so more will start not taking patients with it. The issue seems to be with the doc himself, not with the insurance. Plenty of good docs take medicare.

[doodadem]

11. This is a real soapbox issue for me

Medicare works relatively well, and a national healthcare program based on it would be a good idea.

HOWEVER, I think it's a load of crap that it is not paying doctors enough. Modern medicine in America is all about doctors making a financial killing, while spending as little time as possible with their patients.

[Mojorabbit]

15. Then you don't know

anything about what medicare pays. My husband is a doc and I myself am on medicare. They pay a whole lot less than insurance companies.

[CountAllVotes]

16. thanks for posting this

you are quite right, the doctors, etc. do not get near as much as if the person was not on Medicare.

As for my uncle, he fell.

He is not in the hospital being kid gloved like a certain old Senator that fell the other day is he? He should be!

People need a *reality* check on what Medicare is and what it really does and does not pay for.

1. No annual exams
2. No drugs
3. No of lots of other necessary things
4. Read more here for real information: www.medicare.gov

You can buy a supplemental plan YES. In my aunt & uncle's case, they have one with a cost of ~$8,000.00 a year and they pay another $2,500.00+ a year for Medicare. Total: Over $10,000.00 a year easy (before co-payments, drugs, etc.).

There is no free ride to this and it is costing a lot more than $2,500.00 a year for these two people and they are on no "gravy train" as some seem to erroneously think.

:dem: :kick:

[Mojorabbit]

17. You do have a deductable

but he should be able to get an exam just by making an appt with his doc.
There is the new part to medicare ,I think it is called part E which I pay 23 bucks a month for and it pays for my medicines till I hit the donut hole, then it is out of pocket till I pass a certain amt and then it starts up again.
There is some help there if they sign up for it. No insurance anymore pays for extensive hospital stays like they did in the seventies and eighties when I was a nurse. They get people out as soon as possible and that started back in the eighties with shorter hospital stays.
It might help if they call the medicare number and discuss the situation. They were real helpful helping me figure out the benefits that are available. Very nice people on the phone. I hope your family member gets better soon.

[shraby]

7. It sounds like your uncle's issues are with

the doctors and hospitals. Medicare simply pays the bill that the doctors and hospitals present, and if he has an insurance policy to cover the 20% gap that medicare has, they then pay the rest of the bill. Medicare has absolutly nothing to do with his treatment or diagnosis.

[truedelphi]

12. Though your aunt has my sympathy for her husband's

Failing memory and other problems, she needs to realize that many of us are paying big bucks to have the same indifference showered on us by doctors.

[Justyce]

8. Universal Medicare sounds good to me. nt

[EndElectoral]

13. Outside of Kuccinich, our candidates just don't want to go to a govt. paid healthcare. Too bad.

[leftchick]

14. they do not have "universal health care" plans

it is "universal insurance for everyone" plans which BENEFITS Big Pharma and Big Insurance. WHICH SUCKS!