BenefitsAll

Medicare For All Makes Us All More Powerful

October 20, 2015

I'm having a Bernie Sanders moment. I cannot stop obsessing over how pharmaceutical and health care providers and insurers continue to use their political power to keep lining their pockets at the expense of average Americans. Correction. At the expense of the entire country...

We need a system to match the power of these powerful interests if we are ever going to rein in health care costs. And that system has got to be Medicare For All—a national health insurance program funded by taxpayers and employers. Medicare For All will require sacrifices from everyone, but that’s exactly why it can work. It puts everyone on an even playing field for a base level of care with no judgment attached. However, it doesn’t prevent those who can afford it from purchasing additional health insurance coverage. This is my vision of Medicare For All.

  • A basic national health insurance program that provides health insurance coverage from birth
  • A program that regulates medical and prescription drug prices
  • A program that provides more than catastrophic medical care, but does not provide unlimited care
  • A program that focuses on value and outcomes
National health insurance coverage from birth

Medicare For All puts every American on an even playing field when it comes to health care access. This is important for so many reasons:

  1. Everyone learns how health insurance works from the very beginning. There is no this group gets an insurance card, pays no premiums, seeks emergency care only and has no idea how insurance works, while this group pays a subsidized premium, seeks preventive and necessary care and knows what health insurance is. Everyone is introduced to the Medicare For All system at the same time, under the same rules and structure so that everyone knows what health insurance is and how to use it.
  2. Everyone needs health insurance and health care. There is no debate about who does and does not deserve it.
  3. Everyone pays what they can, but are not left out or made to feel ashamed if they cannot pay for care.

Regulated medical and prescription drug prices

Most opponents of Medicare For All see it as socialized health care. They are against health care price regulation because they view health care as a common good and not a public good. They theorize that price controls stifle health care and drug innovation. They support a system where health care providers and innovators can charge whatever they want.

Medicare For All can potentially change how these people view health care prices. Under a Medicare For All system that includes meaningful health care price transparency, everyone has a front row view of how outrageous health care prices are and an incentive to want to reduce them. There is no, my generous, employer-sponsored, tax-free health plan requires a $5 copay for prescription drugs.” Everyone pays the same copay except if they cannot afford it. And the money “saved” through price regulation can pay for those who cannot afford to pay, but within limits.

More Than Catastrophic, Less Than All You Can Eat

It’s hard for people like me who are blessed with good health and have led an injury-free, zero prescription life to comprehend the need for so much medical care. But I’m fortunate, not stupid or mean. I know that at any moment I could need care and I know it could cost more than I can afford. We all need health insurance. The question is how much… A public health insurance program like Medicare For All cannot pay for all the care and it should not. People need to know that upfront.

On the other hand, health insurance is not like other insurance where self-funding non-catastrophic care is the norm. Maintaining your car is not the same as maintaining your health. You can do without a car… That is why Medicare For All needs to be a level or two above catastrophic health insurance.

Still there must be some level of personal responsibility for medication adherence and patient communication and engagement. Also, higher out-of-pocket costs for smokers, seniors and others who exceed a pre-determined cost threshold of care are reasonable.

Focus On Value and Outcomes

One of the black marks against the American health care system is that for all we spend, health outcomes such as life expectancy is worst than in countries that underspend us by a mile. This is a black mark that cannot and should not be ignored. We need a Medicare For All system that supports health care innovations that add value. Significant value.

Conclusion

Our current fragmented health care system leaves us near powerless to push back on health care profiteers. A Medicare For All national health insurance program puts us all on a level playing field where we all have the same view of out of control health care prices. There is no hiding behind employer plans and thinking of high health care costs as some poor persons problem. It becomes everyone’s problem.

(2015 Medicare Open Enrollment Period - 10/15 thru 12/7)
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