Lakhota
Diamond Member
By Igor Volsky on Aug 24, 2011
Americans may have certainly taken care of each other in the absence of formalized access to affordable health care, but that support did little to drastically ameliorate the fears and anxieties of seniors. As Ted Marmor explains in The Politics of Medicare, The biggest fears included not being able to pay for care and risking turning to children or siblings for help, or it meant relying on the charitable attitude of the doctor or hospital. Most profoundly, it was the sense that illness or injury bad enough themselves could be disastrous for family finances unless you were lucky enough to have retiree coverage from a union or government plan.
Indeed, prior to Medicares enactment in 1965, about one-half of Americas seniors did not have hospital insurance, more than one in four elderly were estimated to go without medical care due to cost concerns, and one in three seniors were living in poverty. Today, nearly all seniors have access to affordable health care and only about 14 percent of seniors are below the poverty line.
More: Marco Rubio: Medicare, Social Security Weakened Us As People, Made Us Lazy | ThinkProgress
Americans may have certainly taken care of each other in the absence of formalized access to affordable health care, but that support did little to drastically ameliorate the fears and anxieties of seniors. As Ted Marmor explains in The Politics of Medicare, The biggest fears included not being able to pay for care and risking turning to children or siblings for help, or it meant relying on the charitable attitude of the doctor or hospital. Most profoundly, it was the sense that illness or injury bad enough themselves could be disastrous for family finances unless you were lucky enough to have retiree coverage from a union or government plan.
Indeed, prior to Medicares enactment in 1965, about one-half of Americas seniors did not have hospital insurance, more than one in four elderly were estimated to go without medical care due to cost concerns, and one in three seniors were living in poverty. Today, nearly all seniors have access to affordable health care and only about 14 percent of seniors are below the poverty line.
More: Marco Rubio: Medicare, Social Security Weakened Us As People, Made Us Lazy | ThinkProgress
Rubio is a typical Republican asshole...