Medicare is Government Run Health Insurance

Everyone actively involved in the health care debate knows that Medicare is a government run, single payer health insurance program. Unfortunately, this fact is not stated often enough. It is a long standing joke that an old woman told a senator, “keep the government's hands off my Medicare,” but I think it does speak to a great ignorance in our country. I think allowing the myth to persist has been a big failing of the Democratic Party.

I have not seen, but would love to see, some public polling to find out how many Americans actually don't know that Medicare is government run health insurance. I think the number would be surprisingly high. It is painful to watch people on Medicare scream about the government takeover of health care. The government took over their health insurance years ago.

I partly blame the media for not vigorously stating that Medicare is government run single payer health insurance. They should be asking anyone who warns of a “government takeover” if they then want to repeal the government run Medicare program.

But, I mostly blame the Democratic party for not getting the message out. The government run single payer program called Medicare is one of the party's greatest achievements and one of the most popular government programs. The Democrats should be singing its praises, not tip-toeing around it.

Government run Medicare doesn't just provide peace of mind to millions of seniors. It has also consistently outperforms the private insurance companies. Government run Medicare (and the government run Veterans Health Administration) have higher customer satisfaction than private insurance. Government run single payer Medicare has done a much better job at controlling the spiraling increase in premiums than private insurance. When government run Medicare competes head to head with private health insurance (Medicare Advantage) government run Medicare in almost all cases was cheaper. Medicare is proof the government can do a better job of providing health insurance.

For too long the Democrats allowed “free market” Republicans to convince Americans that the government can't do anything right. Some Americans so strongly believe this idea that they assume something as popular as Medicare can't be run by the federal government.

The Democrats need to state clearly and often that Medicare is government run single payer health insurance. They should extol the benefits of the government run Medicare program at every town hall meeting and TV appearance.

The American people will not trust the federal government to be more involved in health insurance unless they are shown proof that the government can do the job well. Government run Medicare is the proof that Democrats should offer to skeptical voters. The government was given complete control of a large part of the health insurance market and has done a good job with it for decades.

*I state 14 times in this article that Medicare is government run.

McConnell: A Hypocrite, An Idiot, and A Liar

According to the Politico, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has sent a letter to Barack Obama about health care. The letter made it clear that he would stand in the way of any attempt to provide individuals with a choice of a government-run or a for-profit, company-run health insurance plan. He claims that if there was a government-run insurance option, it would be much better than every plan from a for-profit company. As a result, so many people would freely choose the government plan there would be no for-profit health insurance companies left.

Mitch McConnell is a member of Congress and as a result receives an amazing government-run health care plan. Mitch McConnell does not want the American people to be able to buy the plan he gives himself. This is the height of hypocrisy. If Mitch McConnell is so concerned about for-profit health insurance companies not being able to attract customers, he should refuse his government-run plan and purchase one on the open market.

Sen. McConnell is an idiot and a liar because he is trying to make two completely contradictory arguments at the same time. It is the belief of the Republican party that we should not have single payer health care (like Canada, France, UK, etc...) because it would result in low quality, long lines, and rationing. Yet at the same time, he is claiming that we must not allow people to freely choose to buy a government-run insurance plan. The reason is that too many people would choose the government-run plan over a for-profit company plan. If government-run health care is so bad, why worry it would out compete for-profit companies?

McConnell claims creating a government option would “take health care decisions out of doctors' and patients' hands and place them in the hands of another Washington bureaucracy.” This is a lie. Already health care decisions are not made between doctors and patients; they are made by insurance underwriters who choose what procedures are and are not covered. The government-run option would be a real choice. I would get to choose if I want a government agency or a for-profit company to make decisions about procedures that should be covered. If for-profit companies are truly better at delivering care, they will have nothing to worry about.