There’s been a lot of waffling among some the Democratic presidential candidates about Medicare for All. They propose half measures because they say that some people might love their insurance, others say a wholesale change would be too disruptive.
In the first place I can’t believe any but the smallest fraction of people actually like their insurance company, except in comparison to other insurance. As for the disruption caused by converting to M4A, the government has no obligation to keep company profits rolling in, if it’s time for them to be cut off at the knees, so be it.
Even Bernie wants to phase it in over four years. Just imagine desperately needing health care while you’re one of the unfortunates waiting to be covered. Maybe it would be difficult to do it all at once, but think back to the sixties when Medicare was first implemented. It took six months from passage of the legislation, at a time when computers were primitive, for all seniors to be covered.
But I digress, lets get back to the title of this post. Of the people currently on Medicare, mostly seniors, 75% are satisfied or mostly satisfied with the service, with people over 80 that number rises to 90% satisfaction. Can you see any insurance coverage getting that approval rating? What’s more, think about who we’re talking about. Oldsters need far more health care than younger people so they are frequently in contact.
And to cap it off, they’re generally more conservative and, at least in theory, opposed to “Socialism”. Of course some might not know the Medicare they love is actually socialized medicine. Remember that iconic picture of an old guy at a right wing demonstration, that was republished many times on DK, holding a sign that said, Keep the government’s hands of my Medicare?
Democratic candidates need to strongly emphasize the point that Medicare’s strong approval rating among seniors really is the way to go for everyone. And we activists need to make clear to them that M4A is nothing to be shy or cautious about.
But what if, against all reason and logic some people really don’t want to be part of a ‘government program’? After all, we see people voting Republican and against their best interests all the time. Rather than prohibiting private insurance as Bernie would do why don’t we try to accommodate those recalcitrants? It’d be simple enough to calculate how much each demographic group costs Medicare. Why not let people opt out and then receive a voucher for that cost that they could use to buy private insurance. Considering that Medicare is bound to be cheaper than any comparable insurance, not many would opt out. If they are crazy enough to want to go private, let them have it, that way they’ll not have being forced into Medicare to bitch and moan about.