Democrats love promoting Medicare for all.
It’s catchy. It
sounds like something free. It promises guaranteed and comprehensive healthcare
to everyone. Regardless of age. Regardless of anyone’s ability to pay.
Regardless of pre-existing conditions.
And without having to deal with self-serving, greedy insurance companies.
It’s the perfect message for the ever-growing mooch market
in America – those who won’t work and those who want something for nothing.
Millennials in particular love the idea. Surprised?
That alone is one big reason why Democrats are pushing it.
In reality, for most seniors who worked most of their lives
Medicare is not and never has been free.
I pay a monthly charge for Medicare, as do millions of other seniors.
This is in addition to what I paid into it through mandatory
payroll deductions for decades. Those payroll
deductions continued to rise over the years. I didn’t have a choice. And today my monthly charges for Medicare
continue to rise as well.
Let’s all forget about the myth that Medicare is a gift from
your generous Uncle Sam. It’s not.
Medicare is just another form of health insurance. It doesn’t cover much, either, so you end up
buying supplemental insurance to cover what basic Medicare doesn’t. It doesn’t automatically cover prescription
drugs, so you’ll need supplemental insurance for those, too.
All told you’ll spend at least $300-$400 or more a month for
halfway decent coverage.
That’s about how much I paid for each of my employee’s coverage
through Blue Cross or Aetna a few years ago. They got a lot better coverage for
my money, however.
At best, Medicare is better than nothing. But if you took
all the money you paid in over the years, and the money you still have to pay
now when you’re eligible, it’s not a great bargain.
Medicare for all only sounds good if you think it will be
free no matter how old or well-off you are.
That Democrats keep avoiding the issue of who will pick up the tab is
telling.
Now, I wouldn’t be opposed to Medicare for all if everybody
who took it paid for it. That’s probably what Democrats are ultimately planning
but not saying. A lot of the zing with
Medicare for all goes away if they reveal that.
I doubt many would voluntarily pay for it for all the
decades they were forced to contribute by the Feds, and then have to pay even
more to use it when they’re old enough to be eligible. That’s why the Medicare
for all proponents quietly are coupling their scheme with eliminating the
private health insurance industry altogether.
Medicare for all only works if there’s no competition. Right now there’s a lot.
That’s a problem for the Medicare for all advocates.
Employer-provided health insurance already covers about
150-million American workers. Those workers are also forced to pay into Medicare, too. That’s
the overwhelming majority of the American workforce. So most American workers already have health
insurance.
That insurance works just fine for most. Most people covered
by employer-paid health insurance like it. You rarely hear that yet it’s
true.
Why then does anyone want to eliminate this in favor or Medicare
for all?
Simple. It’s a back-door way to get to single payer.
The real reason behind the Democrats’ desire to get to
single payer – the government – is not to provide better, more efficient, and less expensive healthcare. It’s to take total control
of healthcare. That way politicians and
bureaucrats decide who gets what, who qualifies for what procedures, and who
gets what services for free and who pays through the nose for those same
services to subsidize the rest.
It's the ultimate power to play politics with taxpayer
money.
Politicians and bureaucrats can then decide that gender
reassignment surgery for a 12-year-old is covered. That all abortions are
covered. Maybe liposuction for fat
15-year-olds. Breast implants for adolescent
boys. They can also decide that all
illegal immigrants and their families are automatically covered. They can
pander to every special interest group under the sun.
Yet they can also decide that knee or hip replacements won’t
be covered if you’re over 70. Nor organ
transplants or open-heart surgery if they decide you’re too old. Or that a Pacemaker for a 75-year-old isn’t
covered because of their age but end-of-life drugs for the same individual will
be.
In essence, politicians and bureaucrats will decide the
cost/benefit of improving or extending someone’s quality of life. Or even life or death. That should scare everyone.
That’s the power they seek. That’s behind Medicare for all.
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