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Politics : Technical Analysis
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To: shunty20 who wrote (5504)4/4/2013 10:15:37 AM
From: PulpCutter  Read Replies (4) of 14245
 
Shunty: and your solution would be......? The problem with your analysis - apart from the obvious exaggerations - is that you're forgetting that the Republicans fought any changes tooth and nail. The resulting bill has a number of twists and compromises that complicate it, and make it inefficient.

One workable solution is stone-ax-simple: allow people the option of joining Medicare, at cost. Making this option available is supported by the majority of Americans, and has wide bi-partisan support in Congress. The only impediment is that the AMA and the insurers would scream bloody murder.

Medicare is a great system. America as a whole spends 17.9% of GDP on healthcare. Medicare handles the most-expensive-to-treat group, those 65 and over, for 3.8% of GDP. There are out-of-pocket costs, so let's double it to 7.6%. Even using this conservative assumption, Medicare treats the sickest people for less than half what the private insurers charge for the people who never get sick.

The private insurance industry skims off 31% of every premium dollar that passes through their hands, as "administrative costs". Even Bob Dole noted that this is excessive. Obamacare limits their take to 15%. Medicare already operates at 12%.

BTW, if we move more people off Medicare - as the Ryan/Republican plan has it - the total cost will go UP, not down.
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