Mary Lynn Cramer: Medicare vs. Single Payer

Recently Ralph Nader and others came out in support of Medicare for All! While this is certainly better than the current situation, it can give the mistaken idea that Medicare and Single Payer are basically the same.

http://www.counterpunch.org/cramer08182009.html

Don't Confuse Medicare with Single-Payer By MARY LYNN CRAMER

"Medicare, by itself, does not cover annual physical exams, dental care, routine eye exams or eyeglasses. There is no coverage for hearing aids, annual physical exams, or foot care. Medicare participants must pay 50 per cent of an outpatient therapist’s charge for mental health services. Other services and supplies not provided by Medicare include acupuncture, chiropractic services, several laboratory tests, long-term care, orthopedic shoes, prescription drugs, shots to prevent illness, and some surgical procedures given in ambulatory surgical centers. ... For those items that are covered, there is a charge of at least 20 per cent of the medical provider’s costs, and a deductible that must be met.

"If that isn’t good enough for you, anyone who can afford it will be able to purchase additional coverage, at a much higher price than seniors now pay for the government-subsidized supplemental programs (sometimes called Medicare “Advantage”). According to repeated pronouncements by the President and Congress, these government-subsidized, supplemental programs (that seniors have depended upon to expand their Medicare benefits and make basic medical services affordable) will be eliminated. They constitute the “waste” in the system that the President and Congress repeatedly refer to. They also represent “chicken feed,” compared to the enormous profits the private sector is going to accumulate when we all have to purchase private health insurance policies. ...

"No one I know in my elderly HUD housing project is worried about euthanasia, plans to “kill Granny,” or socialized medicine. We do see rationing in the future with the cuts in Medicare “waste” and no proposed replacement for our private supplemental plans. It is frustrating to listen to talk by well-meaning but ignorant “experts” about providing Medicare to everyone, with no discussion of the outrageous inadequacies of Medicare, and no apparent understanding of the pain and suffering caused by the draconian limits placed on coverage in the current Medicare program."

all people IN EVERY OTHER DEVELOPED NATION have, it's pathetic. People on Medicare have LARGE out-of-pocket expenses.