Watched Bill Maher the other day
and they had Darrel Issa, from California on the show.
He made some good points, I thought.
First, Medicare only pays 70% of what private insurance reimburses. What Blue Cross Blue Shield pays your doc $100 for, Medicare only pays $70. What that means, in effect, is that private insurance is subsidizing Medicare.
Next, 90% of seniors require supplemental insurance to Medicare. If it's so great, why are these folks getting supplemental insurance?
Finally, the plan as it currently stands actually increases the cost of healthcare in the United States, by getting more healthcare to more people, without fundamentally changing anything about the system. We will have the same sick, fat people doing the same things, except more of them will be going to the doctor.
Bill Maher himself addressed the lifestyle issue. I found myself agreeing with Maher. How can we have this conversation and not discuss the terrible habits of Americans?
Issa points out that Europeans do something pretty revolutionary--they walk a lot! Hell, at my work, we have escalators that deliver people 2 floors to the elevator bank. Heaven forbid they actually burn calories.
Creating medicare for everyone is NOT the answer.
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