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I can say with confidence that it might mean the government stays out of their medicare /s
by avs733 10y ago
I can say with confidence that it might mean the government stays out of their medicare /s
- fomojola 10y agoNot sure if you're being facetious, but Medicare IS the government, you do realize this? Medicare isn't some magical, mythical creature that existed from the dawn of time and has always been there: it is explicitly a creation of the government (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(United_States) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(United_States))
- mikeash 10y agoThey're mocking people who protested with signs like "Keep government out of my medicare!" during the debate over Obamacare.
- avs733 10y agonote the /s
- mikestew 10y agoNot sure if you're being facetious, but Medicare IS the government And parent even used the sarcasm tag. :-) Parent doesn't need it explained, but some American citizens apparently do: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/prescriptions/2009/08/the_medicareisntgovernment_meme.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/prescription...
- ars 10y agoI get the joke, but after having dealt with them, I would personally love it if the government got out of medicare. Just give everyone a voucher and let them buy their own health insurance using it. The amount of paperwork, and details to keep track of and calculate was absolutely unreal. I have BOXES full of paper from medicare, there was so much I could barely keep up. The worst was the arcane and utterly confusing rules on eligibility: if this, or if that, or you live here, or there, for these dates, and that deadline. I felt like I needed an AI just to figure it all out (and in hindsight my understanding was completely wrong, and I chose the wrong option).
- brewdad 10y agoSounds a lot like private insurance. Handing out "free" money has worked so well for higher education. How will vouchers solve the problem of skyrocketing health care costs?
- njloof 10y agoBy contrast, the paperwork I do (as a client) under Canadian single payer Medicare is nil, and my supplementary insurance (vision/dental) can be filled out online in minutes. Sounds like you need a better system in the US. Maybe not so many different stakeholders in the system?
- ars 10y agoThat's how it works for commercial plans. Very easy, simple paperwork. They have to compete with each other, if they were confusing no one would sign up. > Sounds like you need a better system in the US. It does work for most people, it's the edge cases that fail. > Maybe not so many different stakeholders in the system? Making medicare normal would require much higher taxes (medicare/medicaid hospital payments are below costs and are subsidized by commercial plans). People would then save money on commercial plans. Net dollars would not change, or maybe go down, but the distribution would change, some winners, some losers.
- stephenr 10y agoAmericans always seem to just assume that because their unique way of doing <thing> doesn't work, <thing> is unworkable and should be abandoned, usually in a "let the corporations fix it" kind of way. - Banking regulations - government backed healthcare - gun control - education system
- badsock 10y agoSeriously, I don't think they realize that most of their problems with government are actually problems with just their government, which from an outsiders perspective seems very poorly run. They outspend nearly everyone on public health and education and yet still have outcomes in the lower half of the developed world for what those programs are supposed to address. And instead of actually owning up to the poor outcomes and trying to fix them they just blame blacks and latinos for pulling down the average.
- lgas 10y agoActually as long as you include that "it might" part in there, you can say anything with confidence.