Tag: Medicare For All

Want To Save Lives?

If so then Medicare For All would be the road to travel….I have been a supporter of the idea since its inception….and now a new study has shown just how effective it could be….

Previous research has shown that shifting the United States to a Medicare for All system could save roughly 68,000 lives and $650 billion per year, but a new study by experts at Yale University suggests the savings would likely be even greater on both fronts.

In a Tuesday statement, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), lead sponsor of the Medicare for All Act in the Senate, highlighted the findings, published recently on medRxiv, a server for preprints, or research that hasn’t yet been peer reviewed.

…

“We estimate that such a system would reduce national health expenditure by $1,041 billion annually,” they explained. “Sources of savings include reductions in administrative overhead, pharmaceutical prices, fraudulent billing, and avoidable emergency care. Combined with the reversal of recent retractions, universal coverage would save over 114,000 lives annually.”

Specifically, as Sanders’ office detailed in a statement, Americans would save:

  • $377.5 billion by paying no more than other major countries for prescription drugs;
  • $286.3 billion by eliminating bureaucracy and waste;
  • $285.7 billion by curbing fraudulent billing;
  • $100 billion by preventing costly emergency room and hospital visits; and
  • $295.6 billion by reimbursing providers fairly for the care they provide.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/medicare-for-all-savings

I would say that is good news, right?

But not to worry….health insurance and other corporate donors will be fighting hard to defeat any chance of M4A having any success…

The investigative outlet Sludge published an analysis on Monday showing that the health insurance industry is among the corporate donors to Third Way, a think tank that is reportedly preparing to pour $15 million into an effort to combat the rise of candidates who support Medicare for All and other progressive policies.

Third Way, which has long been hostile to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and Medicare for All in particular, does not publicly disclose its donors. But Sludge’s David Moore uncovered some of the group’s benefactors by examining corporate tax filings, which revealed that the private insurance industry group Better Solutions for Healthcare (BSFH) donated $50,000 to Third Way’s advocacy arm in 2024.

Among BSFH’s members are the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and the health insurance industry trade group AHIP. Moore noted that BSFH is “run out of the offices of leading Republican digital and strategy firm Targeted Victory in Arlington” and was founded by GOP operative Alexander Schriver.

Sludge’s review of corporate tax filings showed other healthcare industry donors to Third Way, including CVS Health and Johnson & Johnson.

“Another corporate lobbying heavyweight, the Business Roundtable (BRT), gave $50,000 to Third Way in 2024, up from the $25,000 it gave in 2023 and down from the $75,000 it gave in 2022,” Moore reported. “Each year in 2019, 2020, and 2021, BRT gave $50,000 to Third Way. The CEO group’s health insurance members include the heads of UnitedHealth, Cigna, Elevance (formerly Anthem), CVS Health—all members of AHIP (formerly America’s Health Insurance Plans), save for UnitedHealth—as well as healthcare company Centene and many Big Pharma firms like Johnson & Johnson.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/third-way-medicare-for-all

Again not to worry the chance of getting good healthcare is small because the Congress is owned by the people that are fighting this attempt.

This is a little something for you to mull over while enjoying your morning coffee…..

Your medical records are private, right?  But for how long?

You might assume that what you tell a doctor stays between you, your physician and perhaps your insurer. But the reality is more complicated.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the federal privacy law that governs health information and is commonly known as HIPAA, is narrower than its reputation suggests. It regulates hospitals, physicians, insurers and their business associates, but not the health data you generate everywhere else: not the period-tracking application on your phone, the internet search you ran about a diagnosis, the DNA you mailed to a genealogy company or the wearable that counts your heartbeats.

Even the records HIPAA does cover can be shared, sold or handed to the government in ways that might surprise you.

This gap in protection matters more than ever because the U.S. government is pushing hard to gather health data domestically and abroad. This is happening even as a growing body of research shows that the safeguard which these efforts to collect data lean on – anonymizing data by removing identifying information to make it difficult to trace back to an individual – is far weaker than officials claim.

https://theconversation.com/us-government-is-pushing-to-gain-unprecedented-access-to-your-medical-records-as-data-protections-are-weakening-287021

Americans need to wake up and smell the manure in the road.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

M4A–The Return

M4A stands for the progressive’s idea from several years ago…..Medicare For All….

I as can be expected wrote about it and here is my reminder for you guys….first from 2019….

Medicare For All

Then in 2021….

M4A Update

You might come to the correct conclusion that I support M4A…..and now the new progressives are bringing this up again…

Simply put….M4A is health care for everyone not just those that can afford it….

A Single Health Program
Everyone will be covered by one health insurance program, administered by the federal government, and have equal access to all medical services and treatments.

Comprehensive Coverage
All services requiring a medical professional will be fully covered. You go to the doctor of your choice. Dental, vision, mental health, and pharmaceuticals are all included.

Free at the point of service
All healthcare costs will be financed through tax contributions based on ability to pay: no copays, no fees, no deductibles and no premiums. Ever.

Universal Coverage
Coverage for all United States residents — non-citizens included.

Jobs
A jobs initiative and severance for those affected by the transition to government-run healthcare.

 

Democratic Socialists Give New Life to Medicare for All

 

WE need to keep electing progressives…..we need to squash the centrists for all they are doing is helping the destruction of the family….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

M4A? Yes Please!

M4A?  Medicare For All.

back in 2019 I wrote about this proposal….a proposal that I feel has some merit….for those that may have missed my post…..it explains what this policy would look like…..

Medicare For All

I bring up this because of the plan that the GOP and Donny are offering the people….

The Senate failed to get anywhere on the health care issue this week. Now it’s the House’s turn to show what it can do. Speaker Mike Johnson unveiled a Republican alternative late Friday, a last-minute sprint as his party refuses to extend the enhanced tax subsidies for those who buy policies through the Affordable Care Act, also called ObamaCare, which are expiring at the end of the year, per the AP. Those subsidies help lower the cost of coverage. Johnson huddled behind closed doors in the morning—as he did days earlier this week—working to assemble the package for consideration as the House focuses the final days of its 2025 work on health care.

“House Republicans are tackling the real drivers of health care costs to provide affordable care,” Johnson said in a statement announcing the package. He said it would be voted on next week. Later Friday, though, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said, “House Republicans have introduced toxic legislation that is completely unserious, hurts hardworking America taxpayers, and is not designed to secure bipartisan support. If the bill reaches the House floor, I will strongly oppose it.”

The House GOP offered a 100-page-plus package that focuses on long-sought GOP proposals to enhance access to employer-sponsored health insurance plans and clamp down on so-called pharmacy benefit managers. Republicans propose expanding access to what’s referred to as association health plans, which would allow more small businesses and self-employed individuals to band together and purchase health coverage. Proponents say such plans increase the leverage businesses have to negotiate a lower rate, but critics say the plans provide skimpier coverage than what’s required under the Affordable Care Act.

The Republicans’ proposal would also require more data from pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, as a way to help control drug costs. Critics say PBMs have padded their bottom line and made it more difficult for independent pharmacists to survive. Additionally, the GOP plan includes mention of cost-sharing reductions for some lower-income people who rely on ObamaCare, but those don’t take effect until January 2027. The emerging package doesn’t include an extension of an enhanced tax credit for millions of Americans who get insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act. More here.

This proposal is pure GOP manure!

It will help very few secure adequate and inexpensive health care.

People are starting to wake up to the problem that expanding health coost will do to their family…..

In less than a month, barring some kind of congressional intervention that probably isn’t going to happen at this point, the ACA subsidies are going to end and monthly premiums are going to skyrocket for the 90 percent of ACA enrollees who are relying on them.

Americans aren’t too happy about that — even during the shutdown, over 70 percent of us still wanted to see them extended, including half of Republicans (also — 72 percent of “non-MAGA” Republicans).

This may be part of why recent polling has shown that a large majority of Americans are once again in favor of Medicare for All.

It’s true! A survey from Data For Progress published late last month found that 65 percent of us either strongly or somewhat support “creating a national health insurance program, sometimes called ‘Medicare for All,’” including 49 percent of Republicans.

https://www.wonkette.com/p/medicare-for-all-starting-to-look

Time to stop playing favorites and think will be best for the health of your family.

I feel strongly that M4A is the way to go.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

BURDEN Act

Another excellent idea from the Dems…..but will this fly?

For decades I have been criticizing the government on their double standards toward healthcare….you see the elected people get full coverage health plan and yet they do not want the rest of us to have such a luxury…..why?

The recent bill that Donny has signed into law did a lot of cutting of different benefits and the eyes of conservs is on Medicare….but now the House Dems have put forth what I think is an excellent ideas…..

In response to Republicans’ new law giving tax breaks to the rich while gutting the social safety net, U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi on Thursday introduced legislation that would force members of Congress “to personally comply with the same burdensome work requirement paperwork they imposed on low-income Americans.”

Under the Illinois Democrat’s Bringing Unfair Reporting Duties to Electeds Now (BURDEN) Act, federal lawmakers “would be barred from enrolling in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program unless they submit monthly proof of ‘community engagement,’ the same bureaucratic reporting required of Medicaid recipients,” his office said.

Krishnamoorthi’s two-page bill would also force members of Congress to file the same paperwork as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to verify eligibility, employment, and income. The proposal comes less than two weeks after President Donald Trump signed congressional Republicans’ budget reconciliation package.

The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act is expected to leave 17 million Americans without health insurance, and, according to an Urban Institute analysis, an estimated 22.3 million families are projected to lose some or all of their SNAP benefits.

“President Trump’s reckless ‘Large Lousy Law’ forces millions of vulnerable Americans to jump through hoops just to keep food on the table or get the medical care they need,” Krishnamoorthi said in a statement. “If congressional Republicans think these burdens are appropriate for struggling families, then members of Congress should shoulder them too. The BURDEN Act simply says, if you want taxpayer-funded health coverage, prove you meet the same standards you’re imposing on the American people.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/big-beautiful-bill-medicaid

I would have like to see a bill that would make the officials responsible for their own health plan…..that is until the rest of the country gets their consideration from these lay-abouts.

AS long as this has come up…..what about making a case for single payer plan?

Privatization of publicly funded Medicare and Medicaid, managed care, and “value-based payment”1 have failed to reduce cost or improve population health despite over 30 years of trying, and a new paradigm for health policy is needed. This article summarizes key health policy concepts and the implications of different payment systems and offers recommendations for design of an optimally cost-effective system enabling universal high-quality care at lowest cost.

Key Concepts

1. Should Health Care be Financed as a Public Good or with Market Competition?

Public funding is appropriate for essential public services necessary for everyone—funded by taxes and paid for with budgets based on cost of operations, with no opportunity for profit or loss. Examples include police and fire departments, public schools, the military, roads and bridges, and government services. Health care should be added to this list. Other industrialized countries with far more cost-effective universal systems treat health care as a public good, not a commodity.

Marketplace financing uses competition, market forces, private enterprise, and opportunity for profit and risk of loss. This works well for consumer goods, industry and manufacturing, hotels and restaurants, fuel and food production, and housing (except for those in poverty). These are appropriately subject to market forces, but health care is not.

2. Ethics: Professional vs Commercial Ethics

…..read more….

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/05/22/365176/

Single payer or Medicare For All, gets my vote then the health table will be equal for all Americans….sad that some do not want that to ever happen.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Now Is The Time For Medicare For All

Since Harris endorsed the3 idea as VP I thought I would bring it all up again….

Medical costs are rising, drug prices are through the roof, and we are trapped in a loop where medical services like insurance and drugs are making obscene profits off your health….but there is an answer….

Medicare For All

That’s right Medicare For All.

A new analysis illustrates just how dire the need has become….

A federal analysis released this week projects that U.S. healthcare spending is set to rise to $7.7 trillion by 2032 and account for nearly 20% of the nation’s economy, findings that single-payer advocates described as yet another indictment of the country’s for-profit system and further evidence of the need for Medicare for All.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Office of the Actuary said Wednesday that it expects national healthcare expenditures to outpace U.S. economic growth over roughly the next decade, “resulting in an increase in the health spending share of GDP from 17.3% in 2022 to 19.7% in 2032.”

The CMS analysis showed that U.S. healthcare spending grew at a rate of 7.5% last year, with overall expenditures reaching $4.8 trillion. CMS said it projects health spending will rise by 5.6% annually over the coming years, with overall spending reaching $7.7 trillion by 2032.

Robert Weissman, president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said in a statement Thursday that the coming surge in healthcare spending “has nothing to do with improving care and everything to do with price-gouging, monopolization, and wealth extraction by insurance corporations, Big Pharma, and for-profit hospitals.”

Despite spending more on healthcare per capita than any other rich nation, the U.S. consistently ranks last among its peers in health outcomes.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-healthcare-spending

And yes the US could afford this program but it will take work and some changes….like one all individuals pay their taxes on every dime they make…there should be no cut-off to help the rich keep their money….Neither you or I has that option neither should anyone else.

Studies have repeatedly shown that transitioning to a Medicare for All system—as proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and more than 120 other members of Congress—would save the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars a year and countless lives compared to the status quo, which leaves tens of millions of people uninsured, underinsured, and unable to afford lifesaving treatments and medications.

Time for the people of this country to get some of the benefits that only a few others have been afforded.

It is that simple.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

M4A (Again)

In case you are not up on the latest acronym–M4A stands for Medicare For All….

Our health care is getting more expensive as the Congress keeps allowing the industry to screw Americans at every turn.

Since the dialog has come to the possibility of Medicare For All I have been a supporter…there are too damn many Americans without health care for this to be anything but a ‘gimme’.

Sen. Sanders has once again brought the proposal to the forefront……

Slamming the current U.S. healthcare system as a morass of waste, dysfunction, and profiteering, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday introduced Medicare for All legislation that would eliminate out-of-pocket insurance costs and provide comprehensive coverage to everyone in the country.

“It is not acceptable to me, nor to the American people, that over 70 million people today are either uninsured or underinsured,” Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Budget Committee, said during a Medicare for All hearing that he convened Thursday morning.

“As we speak,” the Vermont senator continued, “there are millions of people who would like to go to a doctor but cannot afford to do so. This is an outrage.”

…

Under the system that Sanders’ bill would usher in, patients would no longer have to fork over copays, deductibles, and premiums to hugely profitable insurance companies.

“If Medicare for All becomes law, your taxes will go up,” Sanders noted, anticipating insurance industry talking points against his bill. “But what they won’t tell you is that there would be no out-of-pocket costs.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/05/12/realistic-humane-and-just-choice-sanders-unveils-medicare-all-act-2022

For  break down on this issue then I have a post that can help the reader understand what this bill will detail….

Medicare For All

Before you start bumping your gums in opposition please read about the bill and tell me why Americans do not deserve coverage.

Realistically whether you are for or against M4A your choice matters not…..for the the government from top down is swayed only by bribes….sorry I mean campaign donations….not what the best for the people of this country…..their ( elected officials) means nothing!  Their only motivation is the cash they can siphon off…not the will of the people.

Like I stated before I am in favor of the idea…but that is just me….

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

M4A Update

M4A? Medicare For ALL.

I have been a supporter of universal health care for 50 year even before it was fashionable.

These days the idea is wildly popular with the average person on the ground but the same cannot be said for elected officials….we can thank the health industry for the grotesque health care we have today….profit before people….ALWAYS!

Medicare for All (M4A) has a level of support that crosses the partisan divide within the voting public. In fact, the opposition is in a numerical minority. Unfortunately, it just so happens that this small group (Congress, the Biden administration, the medical-industrial complex) has all the power in the country necessary to prevent its enactment.

I had high hopes when the ‘Squad’ was elected and went to DC with M4A on their lips…..but apparently once elected the lips were sealed….

The Squad’s relative quietude regarding the nationwide calls for single-payer Medicare for All, however, despite having a once-in-a-century platinum opportunity (a nationwide pandemic, economic implosion, widespread Left press agitation, and even a mass mobilization this month), is rather instructive.

Did the health corporations silence the Squad?

You would think that with all the health problems the people of this country are facing…support for M4A would be a no-brainer…..but as with all important issues cash has made it impossible for the people to get a fair deal out of the government.

Profit before people…..

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York conceded in an interview with the Huffington Post published Thursday that Medicare for All may not become law right away — and appeared open to compromise on a plan she’s consistently championed.

“The worst-case scenario? We compromise deeply and we end up getting a public option. Is that a nightmare? I don’t think so,” the progressive lawmaker and key surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders said, while noting she still intended to fight for universal healthcare.

It reflects the reality that many voters still chafe at Medicare for All once they learn of the possible trade-offs — like losing their private coverage or paying additional taxes. Though 56% of the public supports Medicare for All, but that figure flips and becomes strong opposition (60%) when people are told it would eliminate private insurance, according to a poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

In stark contrast, the middle-of-the-road proposal known as the public option — which centrists like former Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden are pursuing — has broad backing among Democrats and independents. That would create an optional government health plan and allow people keep their private insurance.

(businessinsider.com)

These Centrists are protecting the obscene profits of the health industry and playing with people’s lives to do so.

Time for the US health care to step out of the shadows and provide the services the citizens of this country need…..

The United States spends far more of its GDP on healthcare than other rich countries yet still has the highest infant and maternal mortality rates, the lowest life expectancy at age 60, and the most glaring inequities, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Commonwealth Fund.

Using a range of criteria to evaluate the healthcare systems of 11 countries—Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and U.S.—the Commonwealth Fund’s latest analysis (pdf) shows that the U.S. once again “ranks last on access to care, administrative efficiency, equity, and healthcare outcomes.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/08/04/time-medicare-all-us-healthcare-system-ranks-dead-last-among-rich-nations-again

I weep for the people of this country and the health of its residents.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Why Joe Why?

I have been writing about Medicare For All (M4A)….a program that is wildly popular with the people of this country. As an example of the the posts I have already written…..https://lobotero.com/2020/03/04/medicare-for-all-again/

Sadly our president does not support the idea of M4A…he prefers to enrich the health industry instead of thinking about the health and welfare of the American people….or to listen to the desires of the people.

The pandemic has helped make M4A more popular…..Biden taunts his accomplishments (almost daily) in fighting the pandemic and yet his attempts help the industry more than the overall health of Americans.

And the private Insurance industry smiles and counts their money…..

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on people’s lives, President Joe Biden has been on a victory tour to promote the American Rescue Plan, a hefty $1.9 trillion spending package that not only sends direct stimulus payments to struggling Americans, but also greatly expands health care options through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). “We’re becoming a nation where health care is a right and not for the privileged few,” said Biden in his remarks at a hospital on the campus of Ohio State University. Eleven years after the ACA was first passed into law as President Barack Obama’s signature health care reform, it has survived relentless Republican attacks in the form of legal challenges and defunding attempts. Preserving and expanding it under Democratic leadership certainly constitutes a win against Republican obstructionism and a refusal to offer better alternatives. But this latest strengthening of the ACA is first and foremost a victory for the health insurance industry.

The American Rescue Plan includes tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to substantially lower premiums for insurance options purchased through the ACA health exchanges. Additionally, it covers 100 percent of the cost of COBRA coverage for those who have been laid off during the pandemic. Even the New York Times characterized it with the headline, “Private Insurance Wins in Democrats’ First Try at Expanding Health Coverage.”

Universal Health Care is a Popular Idea in America, So Why Does Biden Seem Intent on Enriching Private Insurance Companies?

46 million Americans say they cannot afford adequate healthcare…..

A new study released Wednesday morning shows that nearly 50 million Americans would be unable to afford quality healthcare should the need for treatment suddenly arise, a finding seen as further evidence of the immorality of a for-profit insurance system that grants or denies coverage based on a person’s ability to pay.

“People can’t afford their goddamn healthcare,” Tim Faust, a proponent of single-payer healthcare, tweeted in response to the new report. “Families spend less on food so they can make insurance payments. This problem is felt by all, but concentrated among poor people and black people. The American model of health reform—throwing money at private insurers—can not solve it.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/03/31/outrageous-46-million-americans-say-they-would-not-be-able-afford-healthcare-if-they

That is 46 million Americans.

That amount is unacceptable….or it should be.

You need to make your desires known….he probably will not listen but your health is not stake….do not accept the pittance that Joe is offering.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Medicare For All

By now most of us have hard about the proposal of Medicare For All, henceforth to be known as M4A, but in case you have been up the ass of some local cowardly politician then I can help you understand….

https://lobotero.com/2019/03/04/medicare-for-all/
 
 
We have been fighting this pandemic for over a year and I feel that M4A could have been a positive influence on that fight if only it had been in place….

A new report released Tuesday morning by consumer advocacy group Public Citizen makes the case that the United States’ fragmented for-profit healthcare system hampered the nation’s coronavirus response “at every turn,” resulting in millions of Covid-19 infections and hundreds of thousands of deaths that likely would have been prevented under a Medicare for All system.

Titled Unprepared for Covid-19: How the Pandemic Makes the Case for Medicare for All, the white paper builds off a recent analysis showing that around 40% of U.S. Covid-19 infections and 33% of virus deaths are associated with uninsurance, which was high before the pandemic and soared last year as mass layoffs threw millions off their employer-provided coverage. The growing uninsured rate has hit frontline workers particularly hard.

“The reality is that our for-profit healthcare system put the U.S. at a dangerous disadvantage and hindered rapid response,” Public Citizen’s new report reads. “It has also meant millions of Americans have contracted Covid-19 unnecessarily and hundreds of thousands of deaths could have been prevented.”

“Under Medicare for All, everyone would have consistent coverage regardless of their employment status or employer,” the report continues. “And because Americans would have their choice of providers, instead of facing the narrow networks their employers choose for them, they would face fewer challenges getting care, especially during a pandemic where some hospitals and providers are overwhelmed by demand.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/03/16/medicare-all-would-have-prevented-hundreds-thousands-covid-deaths-new-report

It is time for the country to get something they have been expecting for decades…..adequate health care.

Medicare For All would suit that desire beautifully…..plus it is heads above Obamacare.

For those too damn lazy to do their own research before they choose to support or oppose M4A…..let me help what is in the proposal…..

(1) Hospital services, including inpatient and outpatient hospital care, including 24-hour-a-day emergency services and inpatient prescription drugs.

(2) Ambulatory patient services.

(3) Primary and preventive services, including chronic disease management.

(4) Prescription drugs and medical devices, in- cluding outpatient prescription drugs, medical de- vices, and biological products.

(5) Mental health and substance use treatment services, including inpatient care.

(6) Laboratory and diagnostic services.

(7) Comprehensive reproductive, maternity, and newborn care.

(8) Dentistry/Oral health, audiology, and vision/opthamology services.

(9) Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices.

(10) Emergency services and transportation.

(11) Early and periodic screening, diagnostic, and treatment services.

(12) Necessary transportation to receive health care services for persons with disabilities, older indi- viduals with functional limitations, or low-income in- dividuals (as determined by the Secretary).

(14) Hospice care.

(15) Services provided by a licensed marriage and family therapist or a licensed mental health counselor.(In addition to psychiatrists, licensed clinical psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, psychiatric nurses.)

Co-payments and deductibles paid at health professionals’ offices are ended because payment for health insurance is fully prepaid directly into Medicare, just like pre-payment into Social Security, and covered at first dollar amounts. This means the obsolete 80 percent/20 percent payment split between private health insurance companies and Medicare is eliminated, with Medicare for All 2021 covering 100 percent.

As a person who needs meds to continue to breathe….I would like to see something done to rein in the industry to make my meds more affordable…..

Ask and I get an answer…..Sen. Bernie. has a plan….

Sen. Bernie Sanders and dozens of his congressional allies on Tuesday introduced a trio of bills aimed at slashing U.S. prescription drug costs—which are by far the highest in the industrialized world—and reining in pharmaceutical companies whose profits depend on charging increasingly exorbitant prices.

“The time is now to stand up to the pharmaceutical industry and say enough is enough,” said the Vermont senator, who is pushing to include the three measures in an upcoming budget reconciliation package. “The greed of drug companies is out of control and the cost is human lives.”

Titled The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, The Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Act, and The Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act, the three new measures would dramatically alter a status quo under which pharmaceutical corporations have broad discretion to set prices as they please, with little government regulation standing in the way and minimal generic competition.

Under The Prescription Drug Price Relief Act, the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would be required to ensure that the U.S. public doesn’t pay more for prescription medicines than the people of Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan. According to a RAND Corporation study released in January, U.S. prescription drug prices are more than two-and-a-half times higher on average than those of 32 OECD nations, including the five countries named in the new bill.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/03/23/fight-pharma-greed-costs-human-lives-sanders-unveils-bills-slash-drug-prices

Go Bernie….you have my support.

Did that cover stuff for your uninformed mind?

Stop listen to BS spread liberally by people that care nothing for your well-being.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Biden And Medicare For All

In this age of a pandemic and worsening health problems that we Americans are facing…..we need solutions….and soon.

One idea that is gaining popular with the people of the US….not so much with corporate America or the leaders they have in their pockets…..is the plan for a Medicare For Al….hence forth to be known as M4A…..

Once I read the idea I was on board and wrote several posts in defense of the idea….

https://lobotero.com/2019/03/04/medicare-for-all/

https://lobotero.com/2020/03/04/medicare-for-all-again/

Now that we have a new president and he has the chance to solidify a legacy by embracing M4A…..but that would be a push for him…..https://lobotero.com/2020/03/31/biden-and-health-care/

Now is the perfect time for Biden to embrace M4A….

But in case you are not sure what this program would cover…..I can help…..

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1129/text

It appears that M4A is popular atl east with the Dems….

Democrats overwhelmingly threw their support behind “Medicare for All,” according to data released Tuesday from a Hill-HarrisX poll.

Increasing support for the national health insurance program may be linked to the coronavirus pandemic. Many businesses have closed permanently, leaving their former employees with no employment-based coverage. Medicare for All, which would create a nationwide single-payer health insurance plan for all Americans, was the cornerstone of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ suspended presidential campaign. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has not embraced the Medicare for All platform although many of Biden’s potential voters support the program.

Out of 948 registered voters who participated in the poll, 87 percent of Democrats said they were in favor of Medicare for All. Independent voters also leaned towards the idea with 69 percent supporting the concept. Less than half of the Republicans surveyed agreed with the idea with only 43 percent supporting providing health insurance to all Americans.

https://www.newsweek.com/87-democrats-support-medicare-all-though-joe-biden-doesnt-1522833

 Since the program is so popular is there a way for Biden to get onto the bandwagon?

Advocates for Medicare for All have won the policy debate — a recent study from the Congressional Budget Office shows again that single-payer saves money, controls costs, and covers everybody, including for long-term care. There is tremendous popular support for Medicare for All. But we lack the backing among enough elected officials to win politically, including from the newly inaugurated President Joe Biden. 

Our task is not to simply convince Biden to change his views on Medicare for All, but to change the political waters in which that view holds sway. Our task is to create the political will to topple the for-profit healthcare industry, which means building a popular movement that can vilify its business model, expose its corruption of policymaking and shine a light on its financial influence over elected officials, who should similarly be exposed and challenged electorally for protecting an inhumane system. 

https://inthesetimes.com/article/medicare-for-all-president-biden-healthcare-single-payer

But will Biden get on the wagon?

His statement earlier is that would not…..

President Joe Biden suggested that he would veto the universal health-care legislation known as “Medicare for All” championed by his Democratic presidential primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders, citing costs. 

“Nancy Pelosi gets a version of it through the House of Representatives. It comes to your desk. Do you veto it?” MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell asked Biden during an interview Monday night.

“I would veto anything that delays providing the security and the certainty of health care being available now,” Biden responded. “If they got that through in by some miracle or there’s an epiphany that occurred and some miracle occurred that said, ‘OK, it’s passed,’ then you got to look at the cost.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/10/biden-says-he-wouldd-veto-medicare-for-all-as-coronavirus-focuses-attention-on-health.html

Which I believe he would do just that.

His legacy here will be that of enabling the health industry to continue their profit taking and setting the conditions on which Americans will get so little heath care.

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