Quote:No, the type of work I do has given me instances where I've seen the books of doctors and health care clinics. Medicare as an insurer seems to be viable for the elderly, and is viable financially to the providers of health care. Why not expand it?


Anecdotally, my dad is old enough to qualify. He is still very active, and last year he tweaked his knee. He had surgery on it, and is now back up and active.


I'm sure there are stories of horror, just like in anything that serves the public. But I wonder, if Medicare was so bad, why did Bush's push to privatize it in his second term get blown out of the water by seniors?

 

Because once you're on the dole it's nearly impossible to get you to give it up?

 

Medicare is not financially viable for health care providers that's why physicians close their panels to Medicare patients when they reach a threshold of around 40%. Those physicians with a high percentage of Medicare patients are those who are either closing, selling, or retiring; sometimes all three. Commercial insurance contracts are what keep your doctor going, those reliant on Medicare/Medicaid as their primary source of funding are the least financially stable in the industry. But that's what happens when the payer can arbitrarily reduce your reimbursement on the whim of the 535 morons in Congress.

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