We have a few specific problems with healthcare in this country that we need to solve:
- denial of care for inability to pay
- working families bankrupting themselves, taking out loans they can’t afford, or losing their homes to pay for needed care
- inability for self-employed and gig workers to find insurance plans at reasonable rates
- Complicated employer-sponsored health insurance plans with high deductibles and lack of coverage
Medicare For All is getting pushed as the solution – but it won’t solve any of the above problems. As a Medicare recipient myself, I can testify to this. Regarding problems 1 and 4, this still happens with Medicare. For example, my eyesight is going and I desperately need glasses; but it’s not covered under Medicare and I can’t afford the expense of new glasses. I also have osteomalacia and the treatment I need is not covered and I can’t afford it. People will find these same problems under state-sponsored Medicare as they experience under employer-sponsored insurance.
In addition to sub-optimal care, Medicare will not resolve problem 2. Instead of healthcare costs decreasing, Medicare For All will have the opposite effect. It will cause prices to rise. Private corporations and their controlling private equity fund managers know the government always pays. All they need to do is send the bill to the US Treasury. This means they can charge whatever they want…and they will collect. What’s worse, you will no longer have the OPTION of paying your medical bill; more of your wages will be taken by the government to pay for it before you even see your paycheck. You won’t have the option of declining care, either. If you decide not to go to a doctor when you catch the flu, Donald Trump might decide differently…and stick YOU, the taxpayer, with the bill.
But we do clearly have a problem. I have a solution! Take corporate profiteering out of our healthcare system! Without the profit motive, hospitals and clinics can offer services at reduced prices, or even at-cost. When insurance companies (also not driven by a profit motive) see smaller payouts, they will be able to compete with each other by reducing the cost of their plans.
The solution is as simple as it is obvious – write a single simple law that prevents companies and organizations in the healthcare industry from registering as for-profit or stock-issuing corporations/companies. That’s it. Our politicians must be deaf, dumb and blind to have not considered this before. Or maybe they just sold us out…
