The (false) promises of Medicare for All

For the record, I think a form of M4A is eventually the way we need to go as a country if there is any hope of every American having coverage for health care needs on a equal basis.

HOWEVER, what is being publicized as M4A today is misleading at best and certainly not affordable no matter how funded – the “how” which is never mentioned. LET’S LOOK AT THE PROMISES.

• No premiums
• No deductibles
• No co-pays or coinsurance
• Full coverage for
  • Medical
  • Dental
  • Vision
  • Hearing are
  • Mental health services
  • Prescription drugs
  • Long-term care

All this is promised to be “affordable” as the result of administrative savings and elimination of insurance company profits. 🙄

Medicare as is doesn’t cover all those services and it’s costs escalate yearly while Congress has failed to adequately fund the hospital trust. Coverage for LTC alone could bankrupt the system which is why most insurance companies have stopped selling LTC insurance.

Most large employers – which are self-insured- pay about 8% of payroll for employee health coverage and those plans are mostly high deductible plans. Imagine the new taxes needed to fund the grand promises of M4A.

An even greater risk is that Americans would tend to see their health care as “free” and neither patient nor health care providers would have reason to be concerned about the cost of care or the amount of care provided.

That leaves us wondering who would care about costs and how they would deal with those escalating costs. One source promoting M4A with broad benefits mentioned government set global budgets for hospital payments. Think about that and then think about other ways spending on a cover all for free type of M4A would have to function.