Medicare Blog

why expanding medicare to everyone is a bad idea

by Prof. Jesus Feest PhD Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
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Forcing everyone onto Medicare for All violates freedom of choice. The Veterans Health Administration is a mess—why would Medicare for All be any better? Obamacare shows that the government getting involved in healthcare makes it worse. Whatever genuine problems we have in the U.S. are a result of our not having a truly free market in healthcare.

Full Answer

What are some of the arguments against Medicare for all?

Mar 24, 2021 · In an op-ed for Health Affairs, Ken Terry and David Muehlestein explain why expanding the Medicare private insurance option to everyone or “Medicare Advantage for All” is a bad idea. Among other things, we can’t distinguish among Medicare Advantage plans or prevent plans from jeopardizing the health and well-being of their members through narrow networks …

Is Medicare for all a good idea?

Aug 26, 2021 · Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders also favors opening Medicare to everyone over 60, but as a step toward single payer. The Democrats’ $3.5 trillion Senate budget plan allows the ...

What would happen if we adopt Medicare for all?

Apr 26, 2019 · There are three basic objections to Medicare-for-All. The first is that taxes would go up, so it would not receive bipartisan support. The second is that it's a vote loser. When Americans are ...

Are Americans with Medicare ‘satisfied’ with their insurance?

Jun 13, 2018 · Medicare is under attack. The only way to fully protect it is to expand it to everyone. Today’s Republican politicians have made no …

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Why should Medicare not be expanded?

Expanding government coverage at the expense of private coverage will make it harder for providers to continue shifting costs to higher-paying private patients. The result will be longer lines, less care, and decreased incentive for innovation in treatment and care.Aug 25, 2021

What are the disadvantages of Medicare for All?

Cons of Medicare for All:
  • Providers can choose only private pay options unless mandated differently.
  • Doesn't solve the shortage of doctors.
  • Health insurance costs may not disappear.
  • Requires a tax increase.
  • Shifts costs of employer coverage.
Oct 14, 2021

Why is universal healthcare a bad idea?

Disadvantages of universal healthcare include significant upfront costs and logistical challenges. On the other hand, universal healthcare may lead to a healthier populace, and thus, in the long-term, help to mitigate the economic costs of an unhealthy nation.Oct 30, 2020

What are two major problems with respect to the future of Medicare?

Financing care for future generations is perhaps the greatest challenge facing Medicare, due to sustained increases in health care costs, the aging of the U.S. population, and the declining ratio of workers to beneficiaries.Oct 1, 2008

Why should we have Medicare for All?

Single-payer Medicare-for-All covers everyone and saves money. overhead and negotiating lower drug costs. Savings are enough to cover everyone and eliminate cost-sharing in health care. Patients can choose their doctors and hospitals.

Will Medicare for All decrease quality?

Medicare for All will reduce cost, improve quality.

Why the US should have free healthcare?

Providing all citizens the right to health care is good for economic productivity. When people have access to health care, they live healthier lives and miss work less, allowing them to contribute more to the economy.

What are the pros and cons of universal health care?

Pros: An all-payer system comes with tight regulation and offers the government similar cost control to socialized medicine. Cons: The all-payer system relies on an overall healthy population, as a greater prevalence of sick citizens will drain the “sickness fund” at a much faster rate.Nov 19, 2021

Why is free health care bad in Canada?

The reality of Canadian health care is that it is comparatively expensive and imposes enormous costs on Canadians in the form of waiting for services, and limited access to physicians and medical technology. This isn't something any country should consider replicating.

What will happen to Medicare in the future?

After a 9 percent increase from 2021 to 2022, enrollment in the Medicare Advantage (MA) program is expected to surpass 50 percent of the eligible Medicare population within the next year. At its current rate of growth, MA is on track to reach 69 percent of the Medicare population by the end of 2030.Mar 24, 2022

What problem was the Medicare program?

The special economic problem which stimulated the development of Medicare is that health costs increase greatly in old age when, at the same time, income almost always declines. The cost of adequate private health insurance, if paid for in old age, is more than most older persons can afford.

What are some of the concerns associated with Medicare and its viability long-term?

A shrinking taxpayer base, swelling beneficiary numbers and growing healthcare costs all threaten Medicare's long-term viability, according to the HHS, and the agency warned the program would need to increase its revenue or drastically reduce benefits to balance its budget.Nov 20, 2017

How would Medicare for All affect physicians?

Under the Medicare-for-All plan, private insurance would be eliminated and physicians who are in private practice would be paid on a fee-for-service basis through a national fee schedule, likely at the current Medicare rate or slightly lower. By eliminating the insurance industry, the plan would also eliminate one million jobs. The new fee schedule would be significantly lower than the current industry fee schedule, which means Medicare-for-All would likely lower physician incomes in a significant way, making a bad situation for physicians even worse.

Is Medicare for All bipartisan?

There are three basic objections to Medicare-for-All. The first is that taxes would go up, so it would not receive bipartisan support. The second is that it's a vote loser. When Americans are polled, 70% say that they approve of Medicare-for-All.

Is there an alternative to Obamacare?

There is an alternative to both Obamacare and Medicare-for-All. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., introduces the Medicare for All Act of 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) The Associated Press. Senator Bernie Sanders recently announced his Medicare-for-All bill.

Who introduced Medicare for All?

Senator Bernie Sanders recently announced his Medicare-for-All bill. This is basically the senate version of the congressional bill introduced by Pra mila Jaya pal. The bill would eliminate the insurance industry and much of the billing bureaucracy that exists today. It would provide health care coverage for everyone and eliminate copays ...

Will Medicare eliminate private insurance?

Under the Medicare-for-All plan, private insurance would be eliminated and physicians who are in private practice would be paid on a fee-for-service basis through a national fee schedule, likely at the current Medicare rate or slightly lower.

What do liberals and moderates want?

Both liberal and moderate Democrats want a universal health care system that covers all Americans. They would like a single-payer system like Medicare-for-All or a combination of public and private payers that would cover everyone.

Which profession has the highest burnout rate?

And doctors face the highest burnout rate among all professions -- as many as 46% of doctors in the U.S. have suffered from burnout at some time in their careers, according to Dr. Dike Drummond in his article from Family Practice Management Journal.

Is Medicare a monopoly?

Standard Medicare for All proposals would give Medicare a monopoly on at least basic health insurance. This is how Canadian Medicare works. While many Canadians have supplemental private insurance, it’s illegal to charge insurance customers for “duplicate” coverage of what’s already covered by the public plan.

Does Obamacare make healthcare better?

The first problem with this argument is that, in at least some important ways, Obamacare has actually made the healthcare system better. (Medicaid expansion has saved lives. So has the ban on discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions.) Obamacare critics are right that healthcare has become less affordable for most people every year, which certainly undermines the central promise written into the name of the law, but that was happening every year before Obamacare was passed. The argument about whether costs are rising more or less slowly than they would have otherwise, though, is a lot more complicated. A more modest and defensible claim would be that Obamacare hasn’t fixed most of the problems with America’s market-based healthcare system.

Does Medicaid improve health?

1. Medicaid doesn’t actually improve health outcomes. According to an extensive, randomized study of people who enrolled in Oregon’s 2008 Medicaid lottery, Medicaid doesn’t improve the health outcomes of its patients, even after controlling for major health predictors like income and pre-existing health status.

How much does Obamacare reduce private coverage?

One of the architects of Obamacare, Jonathan Gruber (who also coauthored that Oregon Medicaid study), estimates that Medicaid expansions can reduce private coverage by 60 percent. A RAND study also found that of 60 percent of Medicaid expansion is just replacing coverage that people already had.

Does Medicaid cover primary care?

Too often the current Medicaid program denies patients access to care, since about 40 percent of primary care doctors do not even accept Medicaid patients because the reimbursements are so low.

Why was Medicaid created?

Medicaid was created to give low-income families access to quality care —it was never meant to be a replacement for private coverage of people who can afford it. 7. Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion is financed with $1 trillion in tax hikes and $700 billion in cuts to Medicare.

How is Obamacare paid for?

Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion is paid for through a combination of tax increases and cuts to Medicare. The program doesn’t work like a typical discretionary program, where a fixed amount is appropriated regardless of program utilization. Medicaid’s cost increases are tied directly to enrollment.

When did the Affordable Care Act become law?

June 12, 2014. More than four years after the president signed his signature health care initiative, the Affordable Care Act, into law, many states are still struggling to navigate it. A key issue still facing states is whether to expand Medicaid and increase the pool of residents eligible to join the program.

Is Medicare for All bad?

The Dangers of Medicare for All. It is pure fantasy to believe that the access and quality Americans enjoy today would hold if private insurance were abolished. Medicare for All has been a topic of debate in places like this town hall even in New Jersey in 2019.

How much does Medicare pay for inpatient care?

According to a report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, while private insurance often pays over 140 percent of the cost of care, Medicare and Medicaid pay an estimated 60 percent of what private insurance pays for inpatient services, and an estimated 60 percent to 80 percent for physician services.

How many Medicare Advantage plans are there in 2020?

The average Medicare beneficiary can choose from 28 plans offered by seven firms in 2020. The continual increase in choices of coverage under Medicare Advantage to 28 in 2020 from 19 in 2016 reversed the trend of reduced choices under the Obama administration, when 33 plans offered in 2010 declined to 18 in 2015.

Will Medicare be depleted in 2026?

A projection in the 2019 Medicare trustees’ report states that the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, one of two Medicare funds, will be depleted in 2026. On top of that is the issue of funding the program. Just as the population of older people is greatly expanding, the taxpayer base financing the program is greatly shrinking.

What would happen if Medicare didn't exist?

Older Americans, who typically need the most medical treatment, would find themselves paying exorbitant medical costs directly out of pocket. The total paid every year would be staggering, most likely exceeding their annual income.

Is Medicare debate going anywhere?

The Medicare debate isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It’s been part of the landscape for over 50 years and will probably continue to be around in one form or another for many years to come.

Does Medicare work?

Medicare Provides Coverage to Those Who Wouldn’t Have Coverage. In many senses, Medicare does “work.”. Thanks to the program, millions of aging adults have been able to receive coverage when they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it. Prior to 1965, when Medicare was created, around 9 million older adults didn’t have health coverage.

Why is Medicare important?

Medicare is useful because it covers so many people.

How much does Medicare cost per month?

This number is estimated to cost around $135.50 per month. When you compare this to the out-of-pocket cost of operations, prescriptions, and other associated costs, the savings are huge.

What is Medicare Part D?

The addition of Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans and Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug Plans—both sold through private insurance companies—also gave Americans wider access to prescription medicines. Medicare beneficiaries have had access to these plans since 2006, and enrollments have increased every year since.

How many people were on Medicare in 2006?

In 2006, 22.5 million (52%) people on Medicare were enrolled in Part D compared to 43 million (72%) in 2018, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. With millions of Americans receiving Medicare prescription drug benefits, this may have given pharmaceutical companies more opportunities to develop drugs for this market.

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