I have a question regarding Medicare

[whosinpower]

Seems kinda obvious to me....but....uh....why don't you guys just open up Medicare and allow anyone to join, regardless of their age?
You know...that way, the pool of people paying into it would be allot bigger. It would help to keep costs down because medicare has a system of price control I think.

Those who want to opt for the private expensive plans can still do so. You still have a choice. That has not changed.

I'm just curious - why limit it to 55 and up. No limit. Let the young people pay into it - and help pay for those older people who are perhaps more likely to need it.

[leftstreet]

1. How would insurance companies make obscene profits under your plan?

:shrug:

[DrDan]

2. simple - it allows the healthy to quit contributing to obscene insurance company profits

that is who they want on their rolls - not those over 55 that might have a claim or two annually,

[Oregone]

3. "the pool of people paying into it would be allot bigger"

Heh. No it wouldn't.

There isn't much of a sound reason to limit it, as far as I am concerned. But 55 is closer to 45, which is closer to 35....

[MNDemNY]

4. You must be a "silly foreiner"...WE don't do things THAT way, here in the States.

Someone must be able to make a buck.

[mdmc]

5. Your OP makes sense and would benefit American and the world

So it can't be done..

[Altoid_Cyclist]

9. You get an A+.

Short and right to the point of how America really works.

[mdmc]

14. thank you sir

Peace and low stress and happy holidays..

[Altoid_Cyclist]

19. I have the Peace half of it, but the low stress half vanished for good a few years ago.

Thank you for the sentiment though and the same to you.

If nothing else, I enjoy your posts just because I get to see two of my favorite characters of all time. "Peanuts" takes me back to a much happier point in life if only for a few minutes.

[RKP5637]

6. Not Done - because it's too logical and simple... also does not support the

greedy capitalistic way, not enough obscene profits would be made and those on the take would have to suffer if they can't rip off millions a year from the sick. It reeks of being socialistic and might help people... In the US we prefer to screw people over with extreme capitalism and cornered wealth for the few. Medicare for all would just be too un-American. It's just too unnatural and not the American rip-off way of lots for me first and you later if ever.

[county worker]

7. Medicare is not a system of price control. It is system of reimbursement control.

Medicare pays a certain rate per procedure part B and a certain rate for inpatient days part A then there is part D. There are adjustments to the rates such as to clinics and hospitals in rural areas or who have a disproportionate share of poor and indigent patients.

Price is determined by the clinic or hospital their billing rate. Supposedly it covers their costs plus profit if they are for profit. Medicare does not take into consideration what it costs to run a clinic or hospital.

I just completed a Medicare cost report for our hospital. Our inpatient cost per day for FY 08-09 was $1,100 per the cost report calculation methodology. Medicare paid us $785 per day using their PPS system.

They cannot contain our costs only we can do that. We are a non profit county agency. A large percentage of our patients are poor or indigent. Or costs don't go down because of who we serve or how much we get reimbursed.

The difference between what it costs us to operate and what we get from Medicare comes from Medicaid (Medical) and sales tax and vehicle license tax along with ARRA money and some other federal sources. Also we get a small portion of general fund money that comes from property tax.

Other hospitals and clinics get tax money for the part of costs that Medicare does not pay such as Medicaid, chp, ARRA etc.

The more people we add to Medicare the more taxes we have to collect to cover what Medicare does not pay.

Medicare administration is handled by financial intermediaries such as Palmetto. They are for profit corporations but can operate with less costs than insurance companies because the don't have the same profit motives.

[sinkingfeeling]

8. Because the government has been subsidizing Medicare for decades. They have little price control.

They do set what Medicare will pay for services of hospitals and doctors, but cannot negotiate drug prices. Because the rates paid are so much less than what insurance pays, there are a limited number of hospitals and doctors who will not accept Medicare patients.

Part A is free hospital insurance for those who have paid into the system enough quarters. Part B costs $96.40 a month and pays for doctors. Part D is the drug coverage.
Most Medicare recipients pay for additional private insurance via either Medigap or Part C, which turns parts A, B, and D over to a HMO or PPO and is subsidized by the feds.

[Lugnut]

10. My point exactly.

I see no reason for any age restriction at all.

[zorahopkins]

11. Young People Already "Pay Into" Medicare

I think young people already "pay into" Medicare.

I think everyone who receives a paycheck -- regardless of their age -- pays a Medicare Tax.

I could be wrong about this, but I think I'm correct.

[whosinpower]

13. As a crazy foreigner

I did not know that every body pays medicare tax.

I thought it was different - that only those 65 or older could qualify to enroll - something like that and those would pay some sort of premium, but was also subsidized by the government.

[county worker]

17. Everyone who gets a paycheck has medicare deductions unless they are paid under the table.

Medicare never covers all the costs of hospitals or clinics. It pays about 80% of what it costs to deliver medical services. About 40% to 60% of the costs are the doctor's salary. The rest covers direct costs like medications and medical supplies, nurses, building costs, and indirect costs like administration, financial, dietary, housekeeping and others.

Insurance pays some percent above or below medicare. The non covered costs are paid by the patients, charity, taxes or just not covered. The more people without insurance and medicare the more patients, charity, and taxes have to pay. Everyone pays medicare tax, and the other taxes come from income tax, vehicle license tax, sales tax, TARP or ARRA(borrowing) which we all will have to pay into now or later.

So if you have insurance you are paying for medicare, your insurance and for anyone without insurance.

[whosinpower]

18. One has to wonder

How it is that the US has the highest cost of patient care anywhere in the world compared to other nations.

Certainly, insurance companies have been targeted as they are beholding to the shareholders, and it is their mandate to maintain a profit if they are publicly traded. I am not sure if any of the plans put forth thus far directly address cost of patient care - it seems that they are fixated on the cost of premiums - as per your previous post.

Thank you for clarifying medicare to me.

[county worker]

21. Some reasons for the high cost of care.

Malpractice insurance costs
Physician's salary
Cost of medications and medical supplies (to cover advertising)
health insurance premiums

[snot]

12. [self-delete]

[frebrd]

15. The insurance industry......

would never allow its tame congresscritters to do that!

[maryf]

16. That's basically Single Payer!! HR 676!

Medicare for all...are people finally getting it???

[SoCalDem]

20. How you "get there"

SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Thu Sep-10-09 03:23 PM
Original message
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=6516580&mesg_id=6516580

If you make $40K gross (and are full-time with 2 wks paid vacation)

you contribute $11.15 a week to medicare..your boss matches it.

you also probably pay at least $100 a week towards your health care policy

what your boss says he pays on your behalf/actually pays is more than that..

Let's say it's matched, and is $100 as well.

Each paycheck you get has $222.30 taken out for health care. (part for now..and the $22.30, for age 65+)

The $100 out of your check x 52 , is obviously 5,200 a year, and the boss' share matches it, so your immediate health coverage costs 10,400 a year before you ever go to a doctor or take a pill.

Why not just have the boss give YOU that $100 week he's paying for you, and boost the medicare percentage from 1.45% for you and 1.45 for the boss, to 10% for each of you. Your 769.23 check (gross) would have $76.92 deducted (down from 111.15), and the boss would have no more messy "negotiations" for health care policies, and no need to withhold raises from you anymore.

edited:
(actually it should have the extra $30+ that the boss is no longer paying out of that $100 he/she used to pay). I was too lazy to re-figure the "new" annual income..but you get the drift


Medicare would get $153.84 a week, instead of 22.30.

That, multiplied by all the workers, would have to go a long way to closing any funding gaps..


The mechanism for collecting the money, is already in place.

What's missing from this plan?

Insurance

Insurance companies could still function though, as a backstop to defray the 20% charges not paid by medicare, if people wanted to buy the gap policies.