Op-ed: 'Medicare-for-All'...ObamaCare on Steroids

Op-ed:

'Medicare-for-All'...ObamaCare on Steroids

By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio

 

Let's play a game of guess who...as in who said, "If we expanded Medicaid [to] everybody. Give everybody a Medicaid card – we would be spending such an astronomical sum of money that, you know, we would bankrupt the nation.” Was it President Trump...Ted Cruz...or Carly Fiorina perhaps?
 
Nope to none of the above as it was none other than socialist masquerading as a Democratic former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (and you can see and hear him say it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1okS-KNYgmA), and he said it back in 1987 when he was mayor of Baltimore, Maryland. As the king of all flip-floppers, Bernie is now the chief architect and face of the push for universal health care, as in the push to shove a single-payer system that would devastate our nation's health care system down all 'We the People's' throats.

And right now Bernie has 15 uber liberal progressive Democratic co-sponsors for his 'Medicare-for-All' bill, including California Senator Kamala Harris...the first to sign on...as well as Senators Cory Booker, Elizabeth 'Pocahontas' Warren, and Kirsten Gilligan...all 2020 Democratic presidential possibilities. And if by some chance this bill was passed a single-payer system would become the law of the land...something that was always intended what with ObamaCare deliberately designed to fail.

Thankfully, even while Republicans still cannot agree on how to repeal and what to replace ObamaCare with, at least ObamaCare is slowly but rightfully dying on its own. But what Obama could not pull off Bernie just might, and if he is successful in doing so he would have pushed the others aside in laying the groundwork for a 2020 presidential run.

Posing the question of why is our country the “only major country on Earth not to guarantee health care to all people,” when he lays out his case on the floor of the Senate tomorrow...Bernie knows well his 'Medicare-for-All' bill...aka 'BernieCare'...has no chance of passing a Republican controlled House and Senate let alone would it survive a presidential veto. So why is he proposing this...because Bernie Sanders sees this as a way of further fracturing an already split Republican party while at the same time uniting his own party...fracturing one uniting the other in an effort to prevent the 2018 midterms from turning into a Democratic bloodbath.

“Health care must be recognized as a right, not a privilege...every man, woman and child in our country should be able to access the health care they need regardless of their income. The only long-term solution to America’s health care crisis is a single-payer national health care program,” are the words Bernie Sanders keeps spouting to any and all who will listen. Likening his plan to those of the U.K., France, Denmark, Australia, and Canada, Bernie Sanders claims that whether a single-payer system is fully government controlled or a "public/private hybrid," the end result would be that everyone would be covered no matter if they were employed or not and no matter their age.

And how does Bernie propose to finance his plan...with the Democrat's calling card of further taxing the rich of course. Wanting the richest Americans to pay even more in income taxes, even more in capital gains taxes, and even more in estate taxes than they already do, Bernie Sanders also wants to see the funneling of existing health care expenditures going into his plan...a plan he claims would not only save 'We the People' and both large and small businesses $6 trillion over the next decade, but would go a long way into "helping the American people live happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives."
 

On his 'Medicare-for-All' website...which looks good on paper if you will but is devoid of any substance, how to, and details...Bernie claims his plan would promote innovation and entrepreneurship in every sector of the economy as he says it would help start new businesses, allow moms to stay home with their children, and allow those to leave jobs they do not like knowing they would still have health care coverage...have health insurance...for themselves and their families.

Further stating that his plan would both allow employers the freedom to focus on running their businesses instead of spending countless hours figuring out how to provide health insurance for their employees, as well as assuring that working Americans would not have to choose between bargaining for higher wages or better health insurance, Bernie also sees his plan as the ultimate panacea for seniors and people with serious or chronic illnesses. How so...Bernie claims his plan alone would allow them to be able to afford medications necessary to keep them healthy without worry of financial ruin. Under his plan, he says, millions of people will no longer have to choose between health care and other necessities like food, heat and shelter, and will have access to services that may have been out of reach before, like dental and/or long-term care.

Nothing like living in a world of unicorns and fairy dust is there for if Bernie's plan was ever to become law, the amount in taxes needed to finance such a plan that comes replete with up to a $32 trillion price tag over a ten-year period...with an estimated low-end cost of $1.38 trillion per year...would not just see the rich being taxed but would actually tax the middle class even more so while the 'gimme-gimme, you owe me' crowd gets even more freebies than they do now for Bernie Sander's 'Medicare-for-All' plan is nothing but yet another entitlement program...and Medicare is not an entitlement program as working people pay into it their whole working lives. Not only that, but such a plan as Bernie is proposing, if implemented, would actually cede control of a full one-sixth of the American economy to the government.

So knowing those two important facts, why would anyone herald a single-payer health care system...also known as socialized medicine...unless politics alone was the deciding factor in the equation...which unfortunately it is. And as always it simply comes back to votes garnered... give away enough free stuff get votes in return. And vote garnering remains the calling card of the Democrats no matter that their policies have shifted our country in the wrong direction, especially in regards to health care, thanks to years of having to deal with the nightmare that is ObamaCare. And now with Republicans playing games in regards to repealing and replacing it, the only ones continuing to get burned are the American taxpayers who still have to foot the bill for this ongoing nightmare.

And here's something interesting, according to a June 2017 Pew Research Center survey, a whopping 60% of Americans...they probably just surveyed liberal Democrats for this one...said the federal government should be responsible for ensuring health care coverage for all Americans. Amazing isn't it especially since a more recent Gallop poll said 65% of Americans who are not on ObamaCare are happy with the health care coverage they currently have, and are happy with it being employee based and tax deductible.

Gallop also said that only 33% of those polled support a single-payer system and I believe Gallop over liberal leaning Pew Research surveys any day...especially with 'BernieCare'...being a plan based solely upon policies that work to increase even more the power of the federal government's intrusion into our lives at a time when the majority of 'We the People' want the federal government out of our lives. Big Brother is watching you was a hallmark of the Obama years and like with Obama good riddance is the order of the day.

"The path toward single-payer ought to be straightforward, and sinister corporate interests are the only obstacles standing in the way," or so says Bernie Sanders who ignores the fact that his plan would not only infringe upon at first, and then eliminate entirely, people's right to choose a health care plan best suited for them and their family's individual needs, but would also threaten and then eliminate people’s existing coverage...coverage like I said above the majority of Americans are happy with...especially with them still being allowed to keep their own doctors...something under 'Medicare-for-All' they would no longer be allowed to do. 

 

Also, Bernie's plan allows the government to make the choice about paying for some things and not for others, which means that some treatments people really want or need might not be covered in the name of keeping both costs and the 20% out-of-pocket expenses down...which is really just another way of saying the death panels of ObamaCare would remain.

 

And lets not forget the doctor and hospital end of 'Medicare-for-All' and how a single-payer system affects them both. Remember, the whole point of single-payer is indeed to keep costs for medical treatment down, thus logic dictates that to do so payments to doctors would have to be cut as well, which means the dollar reimbursements to doctors would drastically drop, forcing those doctors who will (rightfully) refuse to accept lower fees to remove themselves from the system. And that in turn translates into patients no longer being able to see the doctor or doctors of their choosing even if they have been long time patients of a doctor who has exited the system. And nowhere in Bernie's plan is there any mention of whether people will be able to get health care outside of the 'Medicare-for-All' system, whether by purchasing supplementary insurance or by paying monies out-of-pocket to the doctors directly. 

 

As for the hospital end...with Medicare some saying already on the road to bankruptcy citing Medicare's latest annual report...a report which states that its main Part A trust fund used for Hospital Insurance will be exhausted in 15 years time...means the feds in turn would have to drastically cut benefits, raise the payroll taxes used to fund it or worse...as in delve further into the federal budget to cover seniors' care...something seniors are truly entitled to after having paid into the system their entire working lives. And this key issue is nowhere addressed in Bernie Sanders 'Medicare-for-All' plan...meaning hospital care and seniors be damned.

 

And as far as corporate interests are concerned, logic dictates that insurance companies most assuredly want to stay in business and not be forced to close by greedy politicians whose end game remains pandering for votes. And close they would as 'Medicare-for-All' dictates that all persons be covered under its umbrella alone within four-years time, thus effectively phasing out private insurance companies by disallowing employer-based coverage to offer the same benefits as the government. And according to Bernie Sanders, this phasing out is being done to eliminate "improper or fraudulent payments"...something that in reality happens in just 10% of all claims filed. 

 

Talk about a monopoly courtesy of a hostile takeover of one hundred percent of the insurance market, and it is a takeover orchestrated and operated by politics instead of by much needed free-market incentives. 

 

But the bottom line in all this is that thankfully Bernie Sanders' ridiculous 'Medicare-for-All' plan will not become reality for most Republicans rightfully see it as nothing but ObamaCare on steroids...which in fact it is. And with the Republicans still controlling the House and Senate...even with the RINOs presence...it is of paramount importance that a Republican ObamaCare replacement plan...a plan that would allow for among other things a free marketplace, the removing of regulations on the types of plans companies can offer including the return of affordable catastrophic coverage alone, and a plan that allows for keeping tax credits in place for Americans who need assistance...that type of plan must become law before years end as all could change in 2018 if it is the Republicans who take a bloodbath and not the Democrats.

 

And don't laugh at that one folks for stranger things have indeed happened in the world of politics...especially when the Democrats will sell their souls if it gives them even more government control over all our lives.

 

Copyright @ 2017 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / All Rights Reserved

 

https://thepatriotfactor.blogspot.com/2017/09/op-ed-medicare-for-all.html 

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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS...LIVE!

 

Today, Tuesday, September 19th from 7 to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss 'Medicare-for-All' being ObamaCare on Steroids, Craig's take on prophecy and politics, and important news of the day.

 

Hope you can tune in at: http://listen.samcloud.com/w/73891/American-Political-Radio#history

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