Could this be a path to single-payer?

[MineralMan]

It was announced that there are now 48 million people on Medicaid. Add that to the 45 million or so on Medicare, and that comes to just about 30% of the population of this country who are receiving government-paid medical care.

Is there a way we could leverage this into single-payer? I'm just thinking...

[Arctic Dave]

1. It would be nice.

Seems the US population is OK with it too.

[phantom power]

2. we could allow the economic crisis to continue until we all qualify

:banghead:

[MineralMan]

4. That's not the point. Medicaid, as it currently is set up, sucks.

But, with around 30% of the population on a government plan of some sort, it seems like we should be able to use that as a foot in the door to a single-payer system somehow. It's just a thought. I don't know if that's possible, but maybe there's a way to leverage that 30% to create a full-scale system.

[SoCalDem]

3. When employers get off the train, yes.

Until then, no..

People who have coverage through an employer are usually okay with what they have...even if they grumble when it goes up in cost. Those people would "like" for everyone to have coverage, but they are not going to march & strike & complain loudly for "other people" ..people they will never meet, to get equal care.. These are the workers who are desperately trying to hang onto their jobs & coverage, so even though they may feel sorry for uninsured people, they mostly keep their heads down & hope they never get laid off.

When employers, en masse, stop covering employees, the shit will hit the fan, and enough people of "means" will be in the streets.. That's when we all get coverage. Until then, the haves will settle for what they have, and the have nots will grab for the crumbs they find here & there.

[Winterblues]

5. That and the intense greed of the insurance industry..

Insurance companies are going to keep raising rates until Congress will be forced to implement some form of Public Option.. Hopefully it will be a Single Payer program but I doubt that could happen within the next Decade..Public Option though, is actually probable..

[gratuitous]

6. But what would happen to all the insurance executives?

Oh sure, you bleeding heart libruls have plenty of sympathy for "people" and their "medical" "necessities," but do you ever stop for even a moment to think about insurance exeuctives, and how this is going to affect their lives? It's not like they can just snap their fingers and replace their multi-million dollar annual salaries for their phoney baloney jobs. I mean, it's not like issuing a coverage denial; their paycheck is important!

[zipplewrath]

7. We could have

It was floated to lower the age to 55, but it went no where.

One of the trickier ideas I heard was to dump S-Chip and drop the provision allowing children on their parents policies and instead allow parents to buy into medicare for their kids until 26. Later it would be 27. Then it would be 28......

[silverweb]

8. Add workers' compensation to the mix.

House Representative John Garamendi (CA-10), formerly Lt. Governor of California. and Insurance Commissioner before that, said that eliminating the wasteful, attorney-heavy workers' compensation system and redirecting those funds would nearly be enough to pay for single-payer health care for all.

Everyone would get health care and the portion of work-related cases litigated for disability compensation would be dramatically reduced. I heard him explain this approach in a radio interview years ago, when he was Insurance Commissioner, and I've been in love with him ever since.

He was talking strictly about California at the time, but the same idea would work just fine nationally. The lawers will scream, of course, but too bad. I worked for workers' compensation insurance lawyers a long time ago, and a lot of them are just running a scam anyway.

[lumberjack_jeff]

10. And the veterans administration. n/t

[silverweb]

13. There ya go!

Combining and streamling Medicare, Medicaid, Workers' Comp, and the VA could create a single-payer system that would benefit everyone, and would save all kinds of money -- but the reTHUGs will still oppose it to the death.

:banghead:

[CreekDog]

9. In fact, that was cited as part of the argument in favor of Medicaid

that 47% of all health care dollars were procured by the government (Medicaid, Medicare, VA, etc.).

and generally services were procured for less money than the non-government alternatives.

[Cleita]

11. Maybe they can keep lowering the Medicare eligibility

age incrementally. You know tack it on to other bills like to age sixty and then maybe in a new session to age 55 and keep doing that until it disappears?

:shrug:

[madokie]

12. don't forget us Veterans

who in my opinion is getting some of the best care of all.

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. Problem with Medicaid is you have be starving to get it,

and it is mostly state funded.
States which now are having severe budget problems look to cut Medicaid services.

whilst Medicare is Federal and not based on your income. Your income SOURCE, yes, but not amount.

Unfortunately, more and more people ARE meeting the stringent Medicaid income guidelines at a time when the services are being cut.

I like the idea of combining ALL of the various health care programs.
Insurance companies and doctors who like to charge a lot, do not like this.

[Cal33]

15. Most of the world's advanced nations have single-payer

systems, and are doing very well. Their people are paying far less than we do,
and are getting far more for their money. Our insurance companies and medical
care-givers are overcharging way, way, way too much!

[MineralMan]

16. Oddly, a lot of people in the thread are talking about this

in a serious way, but the thread's going nowhere. I find that troubling. This is just an idea to toss around.