2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumA Doctor's Perspective: "Medicare for all: A solution for health care"
Carson City, Nevada
The Affordable Care Act (ACA or Obamacare) has most certainly had some successes. There are many who didnt have health coverage that do now and many others who can now get coverage that were previously denied due to pre-existing conditions. With that said, still others have seen increases in their premiums, deductibles and co-pays. It has become more and more obvious the ACA is not a long term solution for our health care system. Unfortunately, neither party has championed a viable alternative. The majority of Democrats vow to protect the ACA, while the Republicans repeatedly attempt to repeal Obamacare which isnt a plan at all.
....snip....
In our current system, private for profit insurance companies are middlemen and as such, drive up the cost of health care. There are only two ways in which an insurance company can increase profits for its shareholders: raising premiums and denying care. This is a serious conflict of interest, yet we have allowed it to happen.
During 2014 alone, the CEO of United Health Care made $66.1 million. Not to be outdone, the CEO of Gilead Pharmaceuticals made $192.8 million in the same year. As a nation we spend 17 percent of our GDP on health care, while the next closest country, Norway, spends only 9.3 percent. The vast majority of nations spend less than 10 percent of their GDP on health care and still provide universal coverage for their citizens. We spend significantly more on health care than any other nation on earth, yet more than 50 percent of personal bankruptcies are due to medical bills or illness.
How do we fix this? The overhead for private for profit health insurance companies is nearly 20 percent, yet the overhead with Medicare is only 1.3 percent. Eliminating the middleman would account for an immediate 18 percent reduction in our healthcare costs. As Americans well know, we also pay infinitely more for prescription drugs than the rest of the world. In fact, were the only country that allows pharmaceutical companies to charge whatever they want. By negotiating these prices, we could realize large savings.
Personally, I pay nearly $6,000 a year to insure my family. We also have a $10,400 deductible. This means I pay $16,000 per year before my family and I get any health care coverage. I have heard horror stories from patients of mine who pay even more, some significantly more.
What about Medicare? The program that covers seniors isnt perfect, but the costs to patients are infinitely lower. The monthly premium is $104.90 and the deductible is $166. This means seniors will pay just more than $1,400 yearly before Medicare begins to cover them. My father was self-employed and paid enormous premiums to a private insurer before he turned age 65. He was relieved when he was finally able to enroll in Medicare, just like many others were when they became eligible. So why not extend Medicare to everyone? Theres a bill to do just that, HR 676, expanded and improved Medicare for all.
So how do we pay for it? There is already a payroll tax for Medicare. This payroll tax would be increased slightly, but the increase would pale in comparison to what were already paying for health care. Remember, Im already paying $16,000 per year. Others are paying even more. Employers would see huge savings over what they are contributing to private for profit plans. A recent study by the University of Massachusetts showed there would be an annual savings of $592 billion. No other plan can achieve this magnitude of savings on health care.....
http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/opinion/20170905-113/sean-lehmann-medicare-for-all-a-solution-for#
Its common sense AND common decency.
GO Bernie!!!!
DesertFlower
(11,649 posts)still need a supplemental policy through a insurance company. some of those policies are very expensive.
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)If he didn't have medicare, they sure wouldn't want so many check ups and tests "just to be sure." I'll have to ask him about his supplemental insurance. He's a cheap guy though, it can't be that pricey....They take great care of him, so I'm not complaining. Just jealous he can afford to go to the doctor if there's a problem. I can't & I have insurance through my employer. There's something wrong with that.
DesertFlower
(11,649 posts)$17 for drug coverage. i have a large deductible, but my out of pocket for the year is $4700. this way if my medical ever gets very high i don't have to worry about losing my house.
my friends pay $710 for medicare and supplemental but they both see a lot of docs. even with that, they still have some co-pays.
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)There's a lot to fix here, for everyone. Such enormous profits for the few at the expense of so many is wrong.
I'm going to find out exactly what my dad pays. He definitely gets cadillac treatment.
DesertFlower
(11,649 posts)it's an AARP policy through UHC.
years ago when my mom was on medicare ('88) her supplemental policy was $20.00.
my friends were so anxious to get medicare. i got it a year before and knew how much those supplemental policies could run. they are the ones paying $710. before medicare she had health insurance through her employer which ran $720 a month and was better coverage. some of her docs don't take medicare.
try and find a psychiatrist or psychologist who takes medicare.
pnwmom
(108,978 posts)DesertFlower
(11,649 posts)we were surprised to learn that it didn't cover glasses which she really needed. same with dentures -- she really needed new ones.
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)His max out of pocket annually is $1500.
That's a great deal & a unique situation.
DesertFlower
(11,649 posts)$1,187 a year in an HCRA. it pays the premiums on my supplemental policy with a few bucks left over to pay my drug co-pays or dental work.
your dad has a great deal.
Vincardog
(20,234 posts)DesertFlower
(11,649 posts)we need to get the insurance companies out of health care.
Vincardog
(20,234 posts)tazkcmo
(7,300 posts)We can fix that, too.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)Uncommon sense makes more sense.
Plus, the unavoidable fact that single payer works better than the US system must be avoided by all who argue against converting to a single payer system.
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)Sadly.
kristopher
(29,798 posts)guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,364 posts)Thanks for the thread, RiverLover.
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)Our country needs this conversation.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)moderate Repubs - told me EXACTLY the same thing. He said single payer would be vastly more efficient for his practice of 15-20 doctors, and any monies lost would be more than made up from the countless hours that would no longer be spent having doctors and staff constantaly arguing with insurance companies.
He had no qualms about single-payer and was a specialist, to boot: a neurologic radiologist.
DesertFlower
(11,649 posts)anyone remember obama's doc? he was for single payer. said he never had problems getting paid from medicare, but some of the insurance companies gave him a hard time.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)as my acquaintance did, that they could practice much better medicine without insurance companies constantly meddling, and with one source of payment.
Agony
(2,605 posts)from PNHP of who he is a member
"Nonpartisan physicians group calls single-payer reform the only effective remedy for nations continuing health care woes and urges focus on facts, not rhetoric"
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2016/january/doctors-group-welcomes-national-debate-on-medicare-for-all
Krugman should stick to something he purportedly knows something about
on health care he is just being silly
New trade, new geography, and the troubles of manufacturing
Paul Krugman8/12/08
"My rules for research:1. Listen to the Gentiles2. Question the question3. Dare to be silly 4. Simplify, simplify"
"Conclusion:
Increasing returns have been a powerful force shapingthe world economy
That force may actually be in decline
But that decline itself is a key to understanding much of whatis happening in the world today"
I am not so sure he really knows much of anything
the above is from his Nobel Prize lecture.
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)Dare to be silly...I like that part.
Overseas
(12,121 posts)I'd like to see us pay for it by realizing health security is part of National Security and it is what a majority of us want. We need Medicare for All in this cruel world of pollution and sugary foods and wild gun laws.
Prioritizing health security and perhaps making due with spending just the same as the next top 5 countries instead of the next top 6.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/11936179/What-are-the-biggest-defence-budgets-in-the-world.html
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)A neighbor of mine is an Army recruiter. (He's an incredibly nice person, so I try not to think about it.)
Anyways...He said the main attraction for enlistment is for the free college and health insurance. They risk their lives fighting for oil to receive what should be available to all of US anyways, except we're spending too much fighting for oil so "we can't afford such entitlements"...the ironies of it all.
This Is How The Pentagon Spends Its $645.7 Billion Annual Budget
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/12/pentagon-budget_n_3915277.html
Overseas
(12,121 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)Did I mention commie?
Rec
RiverLover
(7,830 posts)ViseGrip
(3,133 posts)Bought to you by a group of doctors!