Medicare for All

[KeithE]

[KeithE]

[Haruo]

Medicare for All will save money over time. How much remains to be seen, but there's no reason I've seen to think it will cost more than the current system, and there won't be tens of millions of Americans without coverage of any sort and, in many cases, either not getting needed care (and dying younger after more pain and suffering) or going bankrupt getting what they need in the way of health care, in some cases then blocking our ("socialist!") sidewalks. Look at , and extrapolate.

[Tim Bonney]

So I'm seeing a 4T cost over all to have Medicare for All. We seem to be about the last first world country in the world that lets insurance companies rob us blind and keep many Americans from having adequate healthcare.

My initial support of Senator Warren was based on a Medicare for All plan and I'm reluctant to support Mayor Pete because he hasn't advocated for that fully. But right now Bernie is running away with the show. This is shaping up to be quite an election season.

[Sandy]

Of course, conservatives who are oppose to this plan love to use the "T" word and leave the false impression that you are going to pay more because your taxes will go up. Except if you go on medicare, you will not have to pay the price of insurance premiums, which include a hefty amount calculated in for paying profit dividends to their stockholders out of money you are paying to cover some of your medical costs. What will happen is that your premiums, anywhere from $750 to $1,250 per person per month, will go away completely, and you will have a payroll deduction from your paycheck for the medicare that will be somewhere around $400 a month. Depending on whose plan is adopted, you would pay a small copay when you went to the doctor or hospital, that's all folks. The amount generated by the Medicare tax would cover medical expenses at current retail profit prices. Further reform of the system, along the lines of removing the profit from hospitals and medical care, still allows for paying professionals their salary and covering operating expenses, all that is removed is the dividend payments, drops the cost of care, saving the consumer more money.

I have 10 people on our school's current health care plan. Monthly, we pay $6,500.00 on $9,890.00 worth of premiums with the employee paying the balance in a payroll deduction. I could offer all of our employees a full reimbursement for the cost of their medicare, or just add it to their salary check each week if we had medicare for all.

[Haruo]

So far, I am not seeing any basis to the notion that Medicare for All will cost a taxpaying citizen more than the current system, despite the fact that it will also cover the nontaxpaying ones. I can't see any solid reason (except a profound love of "shareholders", perhaps based on the injunction to love our enemies). I would be thrilled if William would leave aside his flippancy for a few minutes and address this question seriously. Speaking to that longed-for version of William, William, what is it that you see as a reason to believe that Medicare for All (I don't care if you use the Bernie version or Warren's as a benchmark) will bankrupt the nation and/or cost the average taxpayer more than the current system's hodgepodge of payment schemes? Assume that you are addressing real live Christian brethren, human beings, literate and capable of basic arithmetic. I for one will look seriously at whatever arguments you adduce, and while I don't promise to agree with your reasoning, I will assume that you too are a real live Christian brother, human, literate, and numerate, and that the arguments you put forth are ones that you, at least, find compelling.

[Rvaughn]

[Tim Bonney]

[Haruo]

Yes, Robert put a very important question very clearly there. Keith?

[Sandy]

[Dave Roberts]

My thought is that to create Medicare for All, there will have to be a lengthy transition, either starting with people under 30 or over 60. The transition will take some time to create a workable system. The idea that this can be done in one or two steps doesn't really allow for consideration of the logistics. Once the initial group is drawn in and the system works, then it could be expanded upward or downward in 5 to 10 year age blocks. I love the idea, but no one is talking about the practical side of how to bring it into reality.

[Haruo]

How do taxes play into the 3.6 Trillion? I mean, just because we don't have health insurance/care for all, we do after all have lots of government owned and run hospitals (including most of the large VA system) that are paid for by all taxpayers even though some of them provide a tremendous amount of care to uninsured persons.