Wow, so many drive-by shots in the dark when I hit unignore. I had no idea. Where have all the smart people gone?
No wonder Ralph keeps returning to this week after week. The major media have been so silent about it for so long that few people have any real clue.
On second thought, I am recalling a "The Hartford" AARP scandal. But man, that had to be in the news like twenty years ago or more. It did, as I recall, signal the ultimate demise of AARP so far as being of any genuine use to the elderly. And yes, senior discounts. That's about all they've had to offer since forever. That and a dollar might just get you a discount cup of Joe.. still. Wait,.. oops, don't need them for that either:
While some business have discontinued their senior discounts, others have added new deals for older adults. Some even start as early as age 50.
www.theseniorlist.com
AARP was designed by the US Government to keep seniors stupid and docile
Uh, no. The intent was clearly good, but the chosen method of execution was (unfortunately) terrible.
While AARP was founded after the campaign to create the program that eventually became Medicare had begun, the Association and its founder, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, would nevertheless play an active and important role in championing health insurance for older Americans and crafting Medicare into a successful program.
And there it is. Health "insurance" not "care." Back then HMOs were still rather new and shiny. Doctors and hospital chains were clearly robbing your average Joe blind, not to mention your average Jane. So insurance seemed like a good idea. Everyone chips in a little to create a big pool of money to pay for those inevitable rainy days. And blam, sold. Few thought twice. In reality, insurance had proven a great idea, so long as all the participants knew one another, were related, or otherwise associated closely enough to form a reasonable basis "in trust."
Social Security met that difficult test on such a grand scale because all had a reasonably equal stake in the game. It was just about providing a financial floor for all who retired in a world where one's wealth tended to vary increasingly wildly from year to year based on luck more than anything else. All still understand that insurance is something you have to pay for. But Medicare started off promising something for nothing. One's Social Security would somehow just magically pay for it all. That notion doomed it to failure just as even Kaiser Permanente (who continues to thrive only because they still do provide a lot of "care") shall also fail eventually. Social Security was pillaged by the Big Insurance lobby else we'd all (sensibly) still be paying for our healthcare out of pocket rather than largely being forced to purchase "insurance" to pay for our "care" against our will.
So now that we have separate payroll deductions for SS and Medicare the scam has become far more evident. People know that that the current Medicare system has grown increasingly corrupt. However, the cause is not "the government." The government is us. No kidding it's our fault. We are not active, not physically engaged enough, so we are stuck with the consequences. But make no mistake. It is those with real money, hiding behind their big corporate "person" shelters, who move all the big pieces into place just to further enrich themselves at our expense.
"Medicare For All," as proposed by
Jayapal, is nothing like current Medicare. The two are not comparable. Like Social Security, the intent is to provide a solid floor of "care" for all so that we can finally rid ourselves of these giant corporate leeches who, as at least one mentioned, swoop in when we're in our death throws to grab every last bit of remaining flesh before the undertaker mercifully arrives. We all share that same problem.
www.levernews.com
