Op-ed:
'Medicare-for-All'...ObamaCare on
Steroids
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor /
Right Side Patriots on American Political Radio
Let's
play a game of guess who...as in who said, "If
we expanded Medicaid [to] everybody. Give everybody a Medicaid card –
we would be spending such an astronomical sum of money that, you
know, we would bankrupt the nation.” Was
it President Trump...Ted Cruz...or Carly Fiorina perhaps?
Nope
to none of the above as it was none other than socialist masquerading
as a Democratic former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (and you can see and hear him say it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1okS-KNYgmA), and he
said it back in 1987 when he was mayor of Baltimore, Maryland. As the
king of all flip-floppers, Bernie is now the chief architect and face of
the push for universal health care, as in the
push to shove a single-payer system that would devastate our nation's
health care system down all 'We the People's' throats.
And right now Bernie has 15 uber liberal progressive Democratic
co-sponsors for his 'Medicare-for-All' bill, including California
Senator Kamala Harris...the first to sign on...as well as Senators
Cory Booker, Elizabeth 'Pocahontas' Warren, and Kirsten
Gilligan...all 2020 Democratic presidential possibilities. And if by
some chance this bill was passed a single-payer system would become
the law of the land...something that was always intended what with
ObamaCare deliberately designed to fail.
Thankfully, even while Republicans still cannot agree on how to
repeal and what to replace ObamaCare with, at least ObamaCare is
slowly but rightfully dying on its own. But what Obama could not pull off
Bernie just might, and if he is successful in doing so he would have
pushed the others aside in laying the groundwork for a 2020
presidential run.
Posing the question of why is our country the
“only major
country on Earth not to guarantee health care to all people,”
when he lays out his case on the floor of the Senate
tomorrow...Bernie knows well his 'Medicare-for-All' bill...aka
'BernieCare'...has no chance of passing a Republican controlled House
and Senate let alone would it survive a presidential veto. So why is he proposing this...because Bernie Sanders sees this as a way of further
fracturing an already split Republican party while at the same time uniting his own party...fracturing one uniting the other in an effort
to prevent the 2018 midterms from turning into a Democratic
bloodbath.
“
Health care must be recognized as a right, not
a privilege...every man, woman and child in our country should be
able to access the health care they need regardless of their
income. The only long-term solution to America’s health care
crisis is a single-payer national health care program,”
are the words Bernie Sanders keeps spouting to any and all who will
listen. Likening his plan to those of the U.K., France, Denmark,
Australia, and Canada, Bernie Sanders claims that whether a single-payer
system is fully government controlled or a
"public/private
hybrid," the end result would be that everyone would be
covered no matter if they were employed or not and no matter their
age.
And how does Bernie propose to finance his plan...with the
Democrat's calling card of further taxing the rich of course. Wanting
the richest Americans to pay even more in income taxes, even more in
capital gains taxes, and even more in estate taxes than they already
do, Bernie Sanders also wants to see the funneling of existing health
care expenditures going into his plan...a plan he claims would not
only save 'We the People' and both large and small businesses $6
trillion over the next decade, but would go a long way into
"helping the American people live happier, healthier and more
fulfilling lives."
On his 'Medicare-for-All' website...which looks good on paper if
you will but is devoid of any substance, how to, and details...Bernie
claims his plan would promote innovation and entrepreneurship in
every sector of the economy as he says it would help start new businesses,
allow moms to stay home with their children, and allow those to leave
jobs they do not like knowing they would still have health care
coverage...have health insurance...for themselves and their families.
Further stating that his
plan would both allow employers the freedom to focus on running their
businesses instead of spending countless hours figuring out how to
provide health insurance for their employees, as well as assuring that
working Americans would not have to choose between bargaining for
higher wages or better health insurance, Bernie also sees his plan as the
ultimate panacea for seniors and people with serious or chronic
illnesses. How so...Bernie claims his plan alone would allow them to be able to afford
medications necessary to keep them healthy without worry of financial
ruin. Under his plan, he says, millions of people will no longer have
to choose between health care and other necessities like food, heat
and shelter, and will have access to services that may have been out
of reach before, like dental and/or long-term care.
Nothing like living in a world of unicorns and fairy dust is there
for if Bernie's plan was ever to become law, the amount in taxes
needed to finance such a plan that comes replete with up to a $32 trillion
price tag over a ten-year period...with an estimated low-end cost of
$1.38 trillion per year...would not just see the rich being taxed but
would actually tax the middle class even more so while the
'gimme-gimme, you owe me' crowd gets even more freebies than they do
now for Bernie Sander's 'Medicare-for-All' plan is nothing but yet
another entitlement program...and Medicare is not an entitlement program as working people pay into it their whole working lives. Not only that, but such a plan as Bernie
is proposing, if implemented, would actually cede control of
a full one-sixth of the American economy to the government.
So knowing those two important facts, why would anyone herald a
single-payer health care system...also known as socialized
medicine...unless politics alone was the deciding factor in the
equation...which unfortunately it is. And as always it simply comes
back to votes garnered... give away enough free stuff get votes in
return. And vote garnering remains the calling card of the Democrats
no matter that their policies have shifted our country in the wrong
direction, especially in regards to health care, thanks to years of
having to deal with the nightmare that is ObamaCare. And now with
Republicans playing games in regards to repealing and replacing it,
the only ones continuing to get burned are the American taxpayers who
still have to foot the bill for this ongoing nightmare.
And here's something interesting, according to a June 2017 Pew
Research Center survey, a whopping 60% of Americans...they probably
just surveyed liberal Democrats for this one...said the federal
government should be responsible for ensuring health care coverage
for all Americans. Amazing isn't it especially since a more recent
Gallop poll said 65% of Americans who are not on ObamaCare are happy
with the health care coverage they currently have, and are happy with
it being employee based and tax deductible.
Gallop also said that only 33% of those polled support a
single-payer system and I believe Gallop over liberal leaning Pew
Research surveys any day...especially with 'BernieCare'...being a plan based
solely upon policies that work to increase even more the power of the
federal government's intrusion into our lives at a time when the
majority of 'We the People' want the federal government out of our
lives. Big Brother is watching you was a hallmark of the Obama years
and like with Obama good riddance is the order of the day.
"The path toward single-payer
ought to be straightforward, and sinister corporate interests are the
only obstacles standing in the way," or so says Bernie
Sanders who ignores the fact that his plan would not only infringe
upon at first, and then eliminate entirely, people's right to choose a
health care plan best suited for them and their family's individual
needs, but would also threaten and then eliminate people’s existing
coverage...coverage like I said above the majority of Americans are
happy with...especially with them still being allowed to keep their own
doctors...something under 'Medicare-for-All' they would no longer be
allowed to do.
Also, Bernie's plan allows the
government to make the choice about paying for some things and not
for others, which means that some treatments people really want or
need might not be covered in the name of keeping both costs and the
20% out-of-pocket expenses down...which is really just another way of
saying the death panels of ObamaCare would remain.
And lets not forget the doctor and
hospital end of 'Medicare-for-All' and how a single-payer system
affects them both. Remember, the whole point of single-payer is
indeed to keep costs for medical treatment down, thus logic dictates
that to do so payments to doctors would have to be cut as well, which
means the dollar reimbursements to doctors would drastically drop,
forcing those doctors who will (rightfully) refuse to accept lower
fees to remove themselves from the system. And that in turn
translates into patients no longer being able to see the doctor or
doctors of their choosing even if they have been long time patients of a
doctor who has exited the system. And nowhere in Bernie's plan is there
any mention of whether people will be able to get health care outside
of the 'Medicare-for-All' system, whether by purchasing supplementary
insurance or by paying monies out-of-pocket to the doctors directly.
As for the hospital end...with Medicare
some saying already on the road to bankruptcy citing Medicare's
latest annual report...a report which states that its main Part A
trust fund used for Hospital Insurance will be exhausted in 15
years time...means the feds in turn would have to drastically cut
benefits, raise the payroll taxes used to fund it or worse...as in
delve further into the federal budget to cover seniors'
care...something seniors are truly entitled to after having paid into
the system their entire working lives. And this key issue is nowhere
addressed in Bernie Sanders 'Medicare-for-All' plan...meaning
hospital care and seniors be damned.
And as far as corporate interests are
concerned, logic dictates that insurance companies most assuredly
want to stay in business and not be forced to close by greedy
politicians whose end game remains pandering for votes. And close
they would as 'Medicare-for-All' dictates that all persons be covered
under its umbrella alone within four-years time, thus effectively
phasing out private insurance companies by disallowing employer-based
coverage to offer the same benefits as the government. And according
to Bernie Sanders, this phasing out is being done to eliminate "improper
or fraudulent payments"...something
that in reality happens in just 10% of all claims filed.
Talk about a monopoly courtesy of a
hostile takeover of one hundred percent of the insurance market, and
it is a takeover orchestrated and operated by politics instead of
by much needed free-market incentives.
But the bottom line in all this is that
thankfully Bernie Sanders' ridiculous 'Medicare-for-All' plan will not
become reality for most Republicans rightfully see it as nothing but ObamaCare on
steroids...which in fact it is. And with the Republicans still
controlling the House and Senate...even with the RINOs presence...it
is of paramount importance that a Republican ObamaCare replacement
plan...a plan that would allow for among other things a free
marketplace, the removing of regulations on the types of plans
companies can offer including the return of affordable catastrophic
coverage alone, and a plan that allows for keeping tax credits in
place for Americans who need assistance...that type of plan must
become law before years end as all could change in 2018 if it is
the Republicans who take a bloodbath and not the Democrats.
And don't laugh at that one folks for
stranger things have indeed happened in the world of politics...especially when the Democrats
will sell their souls if it gives them even more government control over
all our lives.
Copyright @
2017 Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor
/
All
Rights Reserved
******************************************************
RIGHT SIDE
PATRIOTS...LIVE!
Today, Tuesday, September 19th from 7
to 9pm EST on American Political Radio, RIGHT
SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss
'Medicare-for-All' being ObamaCare on Steroids, Craig's take on prophecy and politics, and important news of
the day.
