A Proposal Designed to Confuse Public and Prevent 'Medicare for All'

[UnTied]

The Center for American Progress (CAP), a Washington-based Democratic Party think tank funded by Wall Street, including private health insurers and their lobbying group, unveiled a new healthcare proposal designed to confuse supporters of “Medicare for All” and protect private health insurance profits. It is receiving widespread coverage in ‘progressive’ media outlets. We must be aware of what is happening so that we are not fooled into another ‘public option’ dead end.*

The fact that CAP is using Medicare for All language is both a blessing and a curse. It means Medicare for All is so popular that they feel a need to co-opt it, and it means that they are trying to co-opt it, which will give Democrats an opportunity to use it to confuse people.

This effort could be preparation for the possibility that Democrats win a majority in Congress in 2018 or 2020. It is normal for the pendulum to swing to the party opposite the President’s party during the first term in office. If Democrats win a majority, they will be expected to deliver on health care, but they face a dilemma of having to please their campaign donors, which includes the health insurance industry, or pleasing their voters, where 75% support single payer health care.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/new-proposal-designed-confuse-public-prevent-medicare/

[leftstreet]

1. Why am I not surprised

DURec

[Demsrule86]

5. It is about improving the ACA which is what Dems should run on...not single payer for all which is

not happening anytime soon...we need a supermajority...start with a pubic option.

[wasupaloopa]

2. This OP is designed to fool people. Dems want to improve the ACA

Nothing wrong with that. Fixing the ACA will cover more people quicker than an idea without a plan like Medicare for all. Medicare for all has not been designed yet and has not been scored by OMB.

Don’t be fooled here.

[UnTied]

3. I agree but

I hope they fix it favoring the patients rather than the insurance companies. I believe insurance co's should not exist. They are just skimmers taking unnecessary profits from consumers, and have managed to make themselves among the largest "takers" in our society. When you have some folks paying as much as a mortgage for their premiums, and still cannot rest easy, knowing that some claims can still be rejected for unexpected reasons, that is not "insurance".
I had a lung transplant last Sep. I live in fear of the current administration in the WH talking as if Medicare is unnecessary expenditure. They would throw me into the streets without even blinking an eye.
And the drug costs. For an organ recipient, without Medicare part B and D I would be dead. But still, my supplemental AND my medicare premiums both went up this year.
I am rehabbing and trying to be able to work again. I NEED to work, whether or not I can handle it. I am looking for a future job where I am not around other people, (colds and flu can kill me), No constant contact with outside sun (My drugs make me susceptible to melanoma), and other restrictions.
So my idea is to do all we can to get insurance and Pharm companies out of the way and leave more resources for the sick consumer

[Demsrule86]

6. The Dems can't fix shit until they get elected an running on medicare for all is suicide...

people like the ACA...run on fixing it...thank Trump for the increase in premiums...guess emails were not that important and all ...the parties aren't the same either...some voters kneecapped the Dems (general comment...not saying you) and now there is little to be done about it except to win...the GOP are trying to end Medicare.

[wasupaloopa]

14. How would you go about ending the insurance industry. Other countries started single payer

before without insurance companies.

I here so much about single payer here and I am not against it but no one has thought it through. How do we dismantle our insurance system and set up a whole new bureaucracy with no guarantee it will deliver better care for all?

What about the medical providers? How will they be effected? I use to be a controller of a medical clinic and it was hard then to make a profit.

[GulfCoast66]

17. How dare you complicate their narrative.

There is no room for reality on the internet.

[GulfCoast66]

4. I am already seeing the new division strategy...

‘Real Democrats’ support Medicare for all. All others are DINOs. I can see it now.

Well this Social Democrat thinks Medicare For All is a bad idea. Better than nothing. But if we work with the ACA and transform it into a system like France or less preferably Germany we will forever move American politics to the left.

We cannot allow Medicare for all to become a litmus test for being a good member of the Democratic Party. Cause sure as hell many are trying to create that paradigm.

[Demsrule86]

8. You would have to get a super majority to get medicare for all...it isn't happening soon.

Lets run on a winning issue the ACA.

[GulfCoast66]

10. We are singing from the same hymnal.

[Demsrule86]

11. Actually ...the plan outlined sounded pretty good to me and will lead to single payer. We may not

get medicare for all but may end up with a system like Germany or Switzerland. We can improve...and I do believe the public option will lead to single payer.

[GulfCoast66]

12. I would not bitch about single payer...

But I think it a tough sell for Americans, who are more like the French than either nation likes to admit! Both stubborn and proud

They do a mixed system involving employer and employee contribution with non profit insurance for lack of a better description. And they got there in fits and starts which I think will be required here.

Of course, the key is that all are guaranteed by the government and all must pay to make it work. But the French way can lend the appearance that it is not all a government plan.

My main worry is that those looking to divide us will pick one litmus test for being a good democrat.

It is nice having a substantial discussion here for a change.

Have a nice evening.

[UnTied]

15. Why should employers be a necessary component for insurance?

I don't like employers being part of the insurance infrastructure or framework. I think it is a burden on business. Small businesses cannot compete with multinationals in purchasing insurance. And I don't like that, thanks to religious zealots, employers get to peek into private health affairs of employees. Single payer would work. Whether or not you work, you are covered. Fired? No problem? Starting a business. No problem. Maternity leave, personal leave. No matter. Treat health care like what it is. A necessity and a right. Like water, it is vital and should be provided as close to cost as possible. It should not be run for profit. Period. It is the money that corrupts.

[GulfCoast66]

16. So how much do you know about the French system.

The French system which is often considered the best in the world.

The profits a business makes should support the life and health of their workers.

Everyone is covered in the French system as well. It’s Western Europe fir gods sake.

The French I know despise the US system more than any other because there is no system before the ACA which Republicans gutted.

And single payer wil not work just because you say so.

We need private and public hospitals and either non-profit and state run Insurance. Preferably a mix of both.

[Demsrule86]

18. The ACA can be made better and will lead to single payer...some form of it anyway.

[GulfCoast66]

19. Perhaps. And I am not ideological opposed to single payer

But I think we can use the example of France to guide us. And they have multiple payers with the government insuring all have health care.

Regardless, as long as we agree that healthcare is a right we can work it out.

[mcar]

7. Unrec

Some reality: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210275219

[Demsrule86]

9. This sounds good.

"...To address these challenges, the Center for American Progress proposes a new system—“Medicare Extra for All.” Medicare Extra would include important enhancements to the current Medicare program: an out-of-pocket limit, coverage of dental care and hearing aids, and integrated drug benefits. Medicare Extra would be available to all Americans, regardless of income, health status, age, or insurance status.

Employers would have the option to sponsor Medicare Extra and employees would have the option to choose Medicare Extra over their employer coverage. Medicare Extra would strengthen, streamline, and integrate Medicaid coverage with guaranteed quality into a national program."

This would help people now...why are you putting out misleading information?

[brooklynite]

13. Much better to fight for perfection and lose.....