Why don’t government payments for health care cover actual costs?

In 2013 under Medicare, hospitals received payment of 88 cents for every dollar spent caring for Medicare patients. Under Medicaid, hospitals received payment of 90 cents for every dollar spent caring for Medicaid patients. These percentages vary by state for Medicaid. In addition, hospitals provide billions of dollars in uncompensated care.

All this means that private insurers and their customers over pay for the same services.

Let’s think about this.🤔

What would happen to hospitals and the access to health care for Americans if we imposed Medicare level payments on hospitals (and doctors) under a Medicare-for-all scheme? With no private insurance to pick up the losses some major changes would be necessary … and those changes would impact how health care is provided.

What would happen if payments were made to fully cover costs? The supposed savings go poof. 🤑

No major changes to health care in America are possible without major changes in the way Americans receive health care and even then there are no guarantees of major savings.