So, yesterday the MSM found a bit of a loophole in the healthcare bill passed by President Obama and Congress. It seems that early retirees making up to $64K a year jointly can still qualify for Medicaid. In the rush to fall all over themselves, President Obama and his administration officials claimed today that they, "now see the problem" and are going to set about fixing it.
Well, from my point of view, I'm not sure they at all do "see the problem" in need of fixing, or if they do it's the wrong problem and the wrong fix.
Earlier this year, I got married to my swain. My husband is born British and was raised under the NHS. The NHS is facing cuts by the Conservative/coalition government that is currently in power. A lot of discussion has ensued on this. (Because my husband is British, I read a lot of The Guardian and The Independent, but admittedly less of The Tory-graph lol though we still check it out from time to time for amusement's sake, but I digress!) You can pretty much depend upon the BBC, BBC America or even PBS to cover something daily on the NHS funding debate (especially since PBS in our area uses BBC World News as its nightly news source, a move I applauded). This NHS discussion has been tense, fractious and very doom and gloom, but one essential fact remains: Not ONE politician in the UK, no matter HOW conservative his politics, would ever do anything more than dream of gutting the NHS or revoking it in any way. To do so, to the British mind, would cause anarchy and rioting in the streets. People simply would not stand for it, and the government couldn't actually get away with.
Contrast that with the US, if you will.
The real problem here is that there is a genuine lack of political willpower to get healthcare for all in the United States. It's a failure to politicians who have yet to see it broadly implemented and that kind of bombastic grandstanding is why we got what we got, which was a total pile of crap that benefits very few people at the expensive of the majority. Of course it's a failure to them, because they desperately need it to be. No one had any real, serious convictions, except a dogmatic and determined segment of US society. By far, as repeated ad nauseum, the simplest and BEST way of getting everyone covered would be Medicare for all It's a beloved program, it works and it could cover everyone at a fraction of what private insurance costs us. (But have we seen what happens to those who propose such common sense approaches to everyday problems, right?) They get hung out to dry out of political expedience. Of course, we'd also have to re-make the industry and no one wants that, do they? So we have a situation where some things have changed, but most essentially remain unchanged., but the politicians can pat themselves on the back and console themselves that they tried. End scene.
But, here comes a stealth provision in the bill that would enable some people to experience what government run healthcare would be like. Just like those receiving treatment at the VA, Medicare patients, or our Congressional politicians, these early-retiree Medicaid patients would get a taste of what life is like on the other side...and by all accounts, they would definitely like it. Oh no, but that wouldn't do! We can't stomach that sort of thing on our watch, people might actually be cared for and happy(!) ....So out trots the Obama Administration to say they realize its a problem and they'll fix it. Sorry fellas. Wrong fix, wrong problem.
If they really want to 'fix' the true 'problem', they'll change the word 'Medicaid' in the provision to 'Medicare', expand it to cover everyone from cradle to grave, fund it and there you go.......The real problem with healthcare in the US? SOLVED.