I'll be danged - Republicans may have it right on a health system!

[Papageorgio]

You've clearly set out to discuss this topic like an adult.

From your link:

The "Advantages" of Medicare "Advantage"! ("small")(like a weasel)

Mac doesn’t discuss, he tells you the way he sees it and want you to agree or he will demean like he just did to you.

 

[Grumblenuts]

Mac doesn’t discuss, he tells you the way he sees it and want you to agree or he will demean like he just did to you.

Yeah, well, that's politics, right? We all succumb to that at times.

 

[Grumblenuts]

All essentially the same, in the end.

That's debatable, but skirts the issue. Fact is they are all distinct terms, in the beginning.. which is still where we're at. Whatever you want to call it, all Obama really managed to do was provide health insurance to millions who had none at the time.. An accomplishment. However, he did nothing for millions of others who also had none at the time.. Many still don't. Don't you care about them? What else is there to crow about it? In reality, he kicked any chance for significant "universal" health care reform (real health care made available to all, not just "coverage") via the usual, slow Congressional route - way the hell down the road. May be a blessing in disguise. Perhaps people will get angry enough to actually do something about it themselves sooner. I doubt it.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

That's debatable, but skirts the issue. Fact is they are all distinct terms, in the beginning.. which is still where we're at. Whatever you want to call it, all Obama really managed to do was provide health insurance to millions who had none at the time.. An accomplishment. However, he did nothing for millions of others who also had none at the time.. Many still don't. Don't you care about them? What else is there to crow about it? In reality, he kicked any chance for significant "universal" health care reform (real health care made available to all, not just "coverage") via the usual, slow Congressional route - way the hell down the road. May be a blessing in disguise. Perhaps people will get angry enough to actually do something about it themselves sooner. I doubt it.

Don't *I* care? You have read my comments, right? Yes I do. I also care about insured people who still end up in bankruptcy due to costs.

 

[Grumblenuts]

Don't *I* care?

Rhetorical. Dagosa pulled that shit on me earlier. Figured you'd get it.. Figured wrong. Sorry.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

Rhetorical. Dagosa pulled that shit on me earlier. Figured you'd get it.. Figured wrong. Sorry.

Thus the question mark, bro. Lighten up, don't kick the dog.

 

[Dagosa]

Nope, rates are filed in the state the company is doing business in.

So you’re admitting the feds don’t set the rates for private insurance companies.

 

[Dagosa]

Medicare for All cannot be "optional" by definition. It's a foundation.

Wrong again. Instead guess, each is defined. Medicare IS OPTIONAL. If you have employer based insurance otherwise and continue to work, you just don’t enroll if you don’t want to.

Medicare is also available as an option if you’re on disability……before age 65. But you have to apply. Eventually, the gov will really want to give you money. But just keep refusing and it’s your private provider who’ll get pissed and pull their coverage out from under you. They need that tax payer cut.

 

[Dagosa]

True, they did, but that's not really the issue anymore.

Yep, so it should come as no surprise, every time then, right?

Of course it’s the issue. The GOP waves the big gov interference tactic then when in power, then does everything they can to plow tax dollars into their donors.

Its still the issue because the right to negotiate drug prices is still being opposed by the GOP.

 

[Dagosa]

Medicare system includes a strong, innovative and creative free market component called Medicare Advantage Plans.

Another mistaken idea. Medicare advantage plans still pay out from tax payer dollars, non negotiated drug prices. Our healthcare system is twice as high as Ca nada, and still, not everyone is covered. Maybe you checkEd your copays on drugs. It’s often as high as the total that each Canadian province gov plan pays…..

 

[Papageorgio]

Yeah, well, that's politics, right? We all succumb to that at times.

At times? Yes! All the time? That is what he does on every subject.

 

[Grumblenuts]

And your evidence of that is?



LOL. Sure. Because that happens every election, right? Congress has a 20% approval rating, but 95% of them get reelected.

You sound like you're disagreeing while simply agreeing. Our electoral system is FUBAR because it's corrupt. Corruption takes money.

noun

1. 1.
   dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery.

Follow the money. Expose the sources. Reject all candidates who take bribes and/or refuse not to. Make noise. Embarrass and shame them individually, starting with those supposedly representing your interests in particular. That's what I'm talking about. Get private money out of politics! No more pay to play. Support public funding of elections. Not simply by voting. When people get angry enough they get active. But Americans have largely been lulled to sleep and given up while people elsewhere have continued making progress by actively fighting for it every day, in whatever local capacity they can muster. If we're not willing to fight for better, then we don't deserve any better than shitty Obamacare. Least of all Obama.

 

[Grumblenuts]

Wrong again. Instead guess, each is defined. Medicare IS OPTIONAL. If you have employer based insurance otherwise and continue to work, you just don’t enroll if you don’t want to.

Medicare is also available as an option if you’re on disability……before age 65. But you have to apply. Eventually, the gov will really want to give you money. But just keep refusing and it’s your private provider who’ll get pissed and pull their coverage out from under you. They need that tax payer cut.

Snore
Look, you're ranting about Medicare -- something that currently exists. The "Medicare for All" plan I'm discussing is very different and obviously does not currently exist. Apples and Oranges. So kindly cut the know-it-all crap. I get it. Your ego is huge and must out.

 

[Grumblenuts]

Of course it’s the issue. The GOP waves the big gov interference tactic then when in power, then does everything they can to plow tax dollars into their donors.

Its still the issue because the right to negotiate drug prices is still being opposed by the GOP.

No, the postal workers retirement pre-funding is no longer at issue. It's largely been paid for by public subsidies and some private support. Plus, it's turned out to be largely overblown to begin with. Email and Facebook continue replacing much of what used to be done through first class mail (always the postal service's real bread & butter) so they've had to make cuts. Yes, FedEx and Amazon getting away with paying drivers as subcontractors and just using the postal service as their rural delivery bitch all these years doesn't help either. UPS and the Postal Service have generally worked far more cooperatively.

Oh, and the real reason Medicare still can't negotiate drug prices?

“It's an outrageous problem, and it has to be addressed. And the only reason that it stayed the way it is, is because of the pharmaceutical lobby and their grip on people in Congress,” Klobuchar said in a recent interview.

Not just Republicans. Democrats have sought permission from Big Pharma:

Top Senate Democrats are seeking to assuage concerns from moderates over the extent of their drug price reforms, as senators want more input from pharma over how far to go with giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices.

Moderate Democrats have expressed major concerns with the party’s effort to give Medicare sweeping authority to negotiate for lower drug prices and force manufacturers to apply those prices to commercial plans.

 

[Grumblenuts]

At times? Yes! All the time? That is what he does on every subject.

Our mileage differs then. I've often disagreed with him but have generally found Mac1958's commentary earnest and far more thought provoking than that of the trollish, Party addled, insult trading norm here.

 

[Penelope]

That's debatable, but skirts the issue. Fact is they are all distinct terms, in the beginning.. which is still where we're at. Whatever you want to call it, all Obama really managed to do was provide health insurance to millions who had none at the time.. An accomplishment. However, he did nothing for millions of others who also had none at the time.. Many still don't. Don't you care about them? What else is there to crow about it? In reality, he kicked any chance for significant "universal" health care reform (real health care made available to all, not just "coverage") via the usual, slow Congressional route - way the hell down the road. May be a blessing in disguise. Perhaps people will get angry enough to actually do something about it themselves sooner. I doubt it.

However, in the 12 states that have not adopted the Medicaid expansion as of January 2021

How Many Uninsured Are in the Coverage Gap and How Many Could be Eligible if All States Adopted the Medicaid Expansion? | KFF

Ten years after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) coverage options, ten states have not adopted the Medicaid expansion, leaving 1.5 million uninsured people without an affordable coverage option. States that have not implemented the expansion have uninsured rates that are...

www.kff.org

That is why! Its the governor and legislature of the red states.

 

[JustAGuy1]

So you’re admitting the feds don’t set the rates for private insurance companies.

You're a bright one aren't you? (sarcasm) "States"

 

[Grumblenuts]

That's regarding Medicaid coverage, which the KFF correctly describes as something the AFA simply takes for granted. We've been fighting like hell to retain Medicaid the past few years in PA (not one of those States) because being on Obamacare, much like employer "provided" coverage these days, remains such an insult to humanity. Taking a good, decent, existing program like Medicaid for granted was no accomplishment. Solved nothing. Provided an excuse. Someone to blame (States, Governors) instead of themselves for doing practically nothing about making actual "health care" more "affordable" for the people already struggling, let alone all of the other people at a national level.

The last header in the last column on the last page of that link tells all.. entirely:

Currently May Be Eligible for Marketplace Coverage
(100%-138% FPL**)

 

[Jarlaxle]

You've clearly been well indoctrinated. I've dealt with it from the receiving end of both privatized and Medicare supplied "healthcare" far longer. You don't know shit.

Does Medicare still pay so little that providers lose money treating the patients?

 

[JustAGuy1]

Does Medicare still pay so little that providers lose money treating the patients?

Yes