So to lay out the basic form of Medicare-for-all deal....Congress would pass a law that private healthcare (as we know it) will end, and Medicare will be established. To make it work....every procedure/process will have a price-tag set by some governmental agency (which probably doesn't exist in this form or at the level required presently). Oh, I agree....Medicare for seniors exist, but this would have to be built in a much different and larger fashion.
Lets use a gall bladder situation as the demonstration vehicle. In some states, you might still be able to get this done for around $6,500 (out-patient, no issues, Doctor Wuhan guy, in a rural area). One step up from this is the $10,900 'ride' where you get an impressive waiting area, Nurse Nancy who has three buttons always undone, Doctor Joe (he's done 3,000 of these), a scented operating room that smells like fresh-cut hay, a situation where you and five guys are lined up at 7 AM, no issues, etc. Then you get to the Memorial-Center, a flashy surgical center, a video of the whole procedure for you later, all the nurses are 50 years old and can play the banjo if you request a tune, no issues, with two overnights....totaling out at around $16,000.
What the Medicare-for-all deal would amount to....there would be absolute limit of $8,900. You'd be paying x-amount into Medicare from your salary (probably 5-or-6 percent), and there's probably going to be a $500 deductible from the $8,900 that you pay.....the rest is Medicare covered.
So right off the bat.....the hospital and doctors realize that it doesn't matter what they offer you or present....whether Doctor Joe or Doctor Wuhan....the price is the same. One-star, two-star, three-star, or four-star.....it won't matter.
The first two levels all go to shrink their cost/quality.
The expensive folks? They will tell you....their situation continues on. Their offering is cash only and you pay them ahead of the time....IF you want high quality care.
The healthcare insurance folks? Destroyed in their opportunity (if you own healthcare stock of any type.....you need to think over dumping it).
How this all starts up? As the 15-odd million migrants/illegals in the US are granted their status in mid-summer 2021.....they will get free healthcare. The bill? It'll pass directly to you the consumer (noticed in November rate changes....likely going up by 30-to-40 percent minimum).
You naturally react in a negative way.
By spring of 2022....President Biden has the Medicare deal resolved and will crank up by January 2023.
You start to think....finally, I get cheap healthcare. Then you have a gall bladder problem, and visit the clinic....where Doctor Wuhan greets you. You kinda had higher expectations. You ask about the better clinic, and get the talk about this being a cash-only deal at twice what Medicare pays.
You wake up by the end of 2023....to grasp that you got royally screwed over.
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