Americans are Already Under a Medicare-For-All System

Democrats are always up to the challenge of extending centralized power over our lives, no matter the cost. Their latest scheme is to abolish private health insurance in lieu of a universal healthcare system under the auspice of Medicare. The projected price tag is $33 trillion over a decade.


We shouldn’t be surprised. These Marxist have been trying to fix our healthcare system for over 50 years with disastrous results. I would say that we’ve already in a Medicare-for-all system. Because of bad policy decisions, a third-party payer system has been instituted which has distorted the market. The patient/customer no longer participates in the cost/benefit analysis resulting in the high cost of healthcare.

So, since prices are no longer determined by the free market, who or what determines the cost? Why it’s Medicare, of course. Here is an excerpt from the Mercatus Center:

Payments for Medicare benefits substantially influence the prices paid by private-sector insurers. Many private insurers simply adopt Medicare’s levels of reimbursement to providers, and those that do not still are affected when Medicare changes its rates. Although analysts disagree about whether the link leads to lower or higher private payments, Medicare’s administrative pricing system clearly cannot replicate a well-functioning competitive market. What can be done to move Medicare closer to the optimal prices corresponding to those produced by a competitive market?

A new study published by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University assesses the numerous problems with Medicare’s price calculations and looks at how they affect prices in commercial insurance policies. The study proposes an arrangement of competitive bidding on bundles of services as a promising alternative to Medicare’s price-fixing regime.

Need I remind everyone that this is the same government that brought us $1000 toilet seats in the 1980’s. You would’ve thought they learned their lesson, but think again. Just recently, the Air Force paid $10,000 for a toilet seat cover. And everyone expects fiscal discipline from Washington D.C.?

Source:

https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2018/07/31/medicare-for-all

https://www.mercatus.org/publication/medicare-role-determining-prices-throughout-health-care-system

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/the-air-forces-10000-toilet-cover/2018/07/14/c33d325a-85df-11e8-8f6c-46cb43e3f306_story.html?utm_term=.4db990a92fa1