Now for a non controversial topic - Medicare
This is an offshoot from another thread earlier today on DU.
Medicare is the health care insurance program for older Americans in the United States. Here are some interesting facts for those who care to know.
https://www.nasi.org/learn/medicare
At the time it was signed into law it was one of the largest public policy victories for progressives/liberals since Social Security and created a sense of medical security for retirees.
https://www.thenation.com/article/how-medicare-was-won/
Medicare has been opposed since it was conceived however. Many people either remember or have seen the commercial Ronald Reagan made against Medicare. The GOP has been trying to alter or kill Medicare ever since.
https://www.ncpssm.org/entitledtoknow/on-medicares-53rd-anniversary-democrats-decry-gop-cuts-and-sabotage/
https://theintercept.com/2015/07/30/medicares-50th-birthday-lets-forget-ronald-reagans-insane-diatribe-trying-stop/
There are people, even on DU who decry some of the shortcomings of Medicare, including me. I work with the elderly and I am often upset that Medicare does not cover dental, that it doesn't cover long term care placement for people who are not safe at home, that it doesn't cover prescriptions without Part D, which is private insurance.
People get mad at Medicare or they love their insurance or supplemental but the reality is that the weaknesses in Medicare are there for two reasons 1. because the trajectory or healthcare in America wasn't really known in the 1960's and MORE IMPORTANTLY 2. because coverage was deliberately curtailed by people who wanted to privatize the healthcare system. They wanted to both weaken any government assisted system and they also wanted to stick in profit centers wherever they could once it was established that Medicare was going to be hard to kill.
So the question is. What do we need to do to make Medicare better?
= new reply since forum marked as read
Currently employed with company health plan
