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The US pays more per capita for healthcare than any developed nation. We should redirect those funds to more taxes to pay for Medicare for all. Costs will go do

The US pays more per capita for healthcare than any developed nation. We should redirect those funds to more taxes to pay for Medicare for all. Costs will go down and your healthcare will no longer be tied to your employment. As a bonus, everyone gets healthcare.

barbazoo 1y ago
Sure but that’s not gonna happen. Workers mostly ever only get things taken away these days. It wouldn’t mean that money is available somewhere else all of a sudden to pay for healthcare.
- kingnothing 1y ago
  If Congress could decide to agree on something, they announce taxes are being raised by X% to provide Medicare for all next year. Next year, employers stop providing healthcare via insurance companies and everyone signs up for medicare. Done.
  - coredog64 1y ago
    One of the huge fights about ACA from the left was so-called "Cadillac Plans": Unions negotiated excellent medical insurance coverage in lieu of wages for their members. If you suddenly axed employer-provided coverage, nearly every union in the US would want to renegotiate contracts to account for that.
andrei_says_ 1y ago
But what about billions in profit for healthcare insurance companies and their business model to collect money and deny benefits?
nradov 1y ago
Don't be naive. Medicare reimbursement rates are artificially fixed below the market rate in order to hold down the federal budget. This kind of works right now because Medicare ends up with a hidden cross subsidy from commercial health plans with higher rates (often explicitly set as a fixed multiple of the Medicare rate). If we put everyone on "Medicare For All" then those subsidies will disappear and queues will get much longer. So not everyone "gets" healthcare if they have to wait a year for an elective procedure. Also, original Medicare Part A/B doesn't cover certain types of healthcare at all such as prescription drugs. So not everyone on Medicare "gets" healthcare today. That's why many Medicare beneficiaries choose to pay out of pocket for Drug Coverage (Part D), Medicare Advantage, and/or Medicare Supplement (Medigap) insurance.

barbazoo 1y ago

Sure but that’s not gonna happen. Workers mostly ever only get things taken away these days. It wouldn’t mean that money is available somewhere else all of a sudden to pay for healthcare.

kingnothing 1y ago
If Congress could decide to agree on something, they announce taxes are being raised by X% to provide Medicare for all next year. Next year, employers stop providing healthcare via insurance companies and everyone signs up for medicare. Done.
- coredog64 1y ago
  One of the huge fights about ACA from the left was so-called "Cadillac Plans": Unions negotiated excellent medical insurance coverage in lieu of wages for their members. If you suddenly axed employer-provided coverage, nearly every union in the US would want to renegotiate contracts to account for that.

andrei_says_ 1y ago

But what about billions in profit for healthcare insurance companies and their business model to collect money and deny benefits?

nradov 1y ago

Don't be naive. Medicare reimbursement rates are artificially fixed below the market rate in order to hold down the federal budget. This kind of works right now because Medicare ends up with a hidden cross subsidy from commercial health plans with higher rates (often explicitly set as a fixed multiple of the Medicare rate). If we put everyone on "Medicare For All" then those subsidies will disappear and queues will get much longer. So not everyone "gets" healthcare if they have to wait a year for an elective procedure. Also, original Medicare Part A/B doesn't cover certain types of healthcare at all such as prescription drugs. So not everyone on Medicare "gets" healthcare today. That's why many Medicare beneficiaries choose to pay out of pocket for Drug Coverage (Part D), Medicare Advantage, and/or Medicare Supplement (Medigap) insurance.