Let George Do It.
Why all the fuss about the uninsured? We already have a government program that provides healthcare, let’s just expand it to cover everyone. I’m thinking of Medicare, but you might also cite Medicaid, SCHIP, Community Health Centers, etc. But if we expand Medicare to include everyone, we won’t need those other programs. Jacob Hacker , writing in the Washington Post last Sunday, advocates this approach. And he’s not the only one. Sounds simple, and that should be a warning. Congress has yet to face the fact that there is a date certain when Medicare as we know it will run out of money. There are two approaches to this problem: reduce benefits or raise taxes. Guess which approach the government will select.
So, we have Medicare, a program that’s scheduled to go bankrupt in the foreseeable future just taking care of the over 65 group. And he wants to expand the coverage to everyone (or almost everyone--see details). That will require a huge increase in funding (taxes). He doesn’t address the unhappiness that most providers have with Medicare. Haven’t seen any ads for “practice limited to Medicare patients.” But I do see practices that don’t take Medicare, plus some that don’t accept any insurance. And if Medicare is so good as a health insurance plan, why do we have “Medigap” insurance? Ever try to call Medicare to contest a rejected claim? It’s entertaining.
Remember when we used to have city hospitals? A few persist, but most have disappeared because the city fathers couldn’t keep their hands out of the till and off the tiller. The same could be said of Medicare where Congress can’t resist mucking with the money.
For another example, look at the VA. I’m a big fan of the VA. They wrote the book on patient safety in hospitals and pioneered electronic healthcare records (in spite of themselves). As a government funded, closed panel HMO, they generally do a fine job. But they are chronically underfunded and struggle to provide excellent healthcare in a difficult environment. A perfect example of what a government will do when it would rather start a war than pay for healthcare.
As with all “reform” proposals, the missing detail is the money. He cites “government’s ability to lower service prices, streamline administration and get a better deal on drugs.” Yeah, sure. It is often said that Medicare has lower administration costs than private health insurance. True, there are economies of scale in some things, but there are limits. Government employees work hard and do a good job (I’m one of them), but let me assure you that they cannot run a health insurance program cheaper than private industry. Just not in the cards. Trust me on that one.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Universal coverage of some sort is coming. Not clear where the money will come from, but probably from multiple sources. And government will play a larger role, but let’s hope not the only role.
So, we have Medicare, a program that’s scheduled to go bankrupt in the foreseeable future just taking care of the over 65 group. And he wants to expand the coverage to everyone (or almost everyone--see details). That will require a huge increase in funding (taxes). He doesn’t address the unhappiness that most providers have with Medicare. Haven’t seen any ads for “practice limited to Medicare patients.” But I do see practices that don’t take Medicare, plus some that don’t accept any insurance. And if Medicare is so good as a health insurance plan, why do we have “Medigap” insurance? Ever try to call Medicare to contest a rejected claim? It’s entertaining.
Remember when we used to have city hospitals? A few persist, but most have disappeared because the city fathers couldn’t keep their hands out of the till and off the tiller. The same could be said of Medicare where Congress can’t resist mucking with the money.
For another example, look at the VA. I’m a big fan of the VA. They wrote the book on patient safety in hospitals and pioneered electronic healthcare records (in spite of themselves). As a government funded, closed panel HMO, they generally do a fine job. But they are chronically underfunded and struggle to provide excellent healthcare in a difficult environment. A perfect example of what a government will do when it would rather start a war than pay for healthcare.
As with all “reform” proposals, the missing detail is the money. He cites “government’s ability to lower service prices, streamline administration and get a better deal on drugs.” Yeah, sure. It is often said that Medicare has lower administration costs than private health insurance. True, there are economies of scale in some things, but there are limits. Government employees work hard and do a good job (I’m one of them), but let me assure you that they cannot run a health insurance program cheaper than private industry. Just not in the cards. Trust me on that one.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Universal coverage of some sort is coming. Not clear where the money will come from, but probably from multiple sources. And government will play a larger role, but let’s hope not the only role.
