Medicare for All: why not?

[Padme]

Believe me, I can only laugh at people who think associating emotions to their needs will gain sympathy. People who "really need medical care" do not cry for it!! Those who really "deserve" the care most of the time refuse it and is tough to convince them otherwise because they are use to support themselves!!

[PJL]

"Here's an outrage that must be changed: Big Pharma has been systematically price-gouging the Medicare program for seniors and people with disabilities -- and raking in billions in excessive profits. The 11 largest global drug companies made an astonishing $711 billion in profits over the 10 years ending in 2012, and they got a turbo-charged boost when the Medicare Part D prescription drug program started in 2006, according to an analysis of corporate filings by Health Care for America Now (HCAN). The drug companies hold the power to charge America's consumers whatever they want. Worse, Medicare -- the nation's largest purchaser of drugs -- is prohibited by law from seeking better prices. The result of this shortsighted policy is dramatic. In 2006, the first year of Medicare's prescription drug program, the combined profits of the largest drug companies soared 34 percent to $76.3 billion. And unlike other industries, such as Big Oil, drug companies get something even better than a tax subsidy -- they get a government program." ............https://www.huffpost.com/entry/big-p...1-bi_b_3034525

[PJL]

"Tom Marino might have withdrawn from consideration as Trump’s drug czar, but drug money is coursing through the veins of Congress – contributing directly to an epidemic that kills thousands of Americans each year Chris McGreal in Washington Thu 19 Oct 2017 21.00 AEDT Last modified on Wed 25 Oct 2017 09.05 AEDT Donald Trump was not wrong. Hours before his nominee for “drug czar” withdrew from consideration over his part in a law limiting the Drug Enforcement Administration’s ability to crack down on pharmaceutical distributors feeding the US’s opioid epidemic, the president took a shot at the influence of drug companies over Congress. “They contribute massive amounts of money to political people,” he said, standing next to Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader. “I don’t know, Mitch, maybe even to you,” he added.............................Trump was right on both counts. Pharmaceutical companies spend far more than any other industry to influence politicians. Drugmakers have poured close to $2.5bn into lobbying and funding members of Congress over the past decade. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have gone to McConnell – although he is hardly alone. Nine out of 10 members of the House of Representatives and all but three of the US’s 100 senators have taken campaign contributions from pharmaceutical companies seeking to affect legislation on everything from the cost of drugs to how new medicines are approved.Trump’s nominee for drug czar, the US congressman Tom Marino, was forced to withdraw after a report by the Washington Post and CBS’s 60 Minutes highlighted his role in forging legislation that hinders the DEA’s ability to move against drug distributors or pharmacies recklessly dispensing the opioid painkillers at the heart of the epidemic, which claims more than 100 lives a day.Marino’s acceptance of substantial donations from those same companies compromised his nomination to head the federal agency charged with tackling the opioid crisis.But for Congress, the process was nothing unusual. Hundreds of millions of dollars flow to lobbyists and politicians on Capitol Hill each year to shape laws and policies that keep drug company profits growing. The pharmaceutical industry, which has about two lobbyists for every member of Congress, spent $152m on influencing legislation in 2016, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Drug companies also contributed more than $20m directly to political campaigns last year. About 60% went to Republicans. Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House of Representatives, was the single largest beneficiary, with donations from the industry totaling $228,670. The impact of so much drug company money coursing through the veins of Congress is often incremental or largely unseen by the American public, such as the industry’s efforts to block competitors in India from making generic versions of HIV/Aids medicines that are more affordable to developing countries............https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-opioid-crisis

[PJL]

"Hundreds of millions of dollars flow to lobbyists and politicians on Capitol Hill each year to shape laws and policies that keep drug company profits growing".

[carolina73]

I get it. The people that took out loans they could not afford were victims. The people that spent all their money on luxury goods instead of saving were victims. The people who took drugs were just victims.

Shouldn't we let the bank robbers out of jail because the banks having money was just too much temptation for them to resist.

[PJL]

I get it.

Apparently not......you don't even get close.

[stjames1_53]

I get it. The people that took out loans they could not afford were victims. The people that spent all their money on luxury goods instead of saving were victims. The people who took drugs were just victims.

Shouldn't we let the bank robbers out of jail because the banks having money was just too much temptation for them to resist.

watch, it'll all be Trump's fault....odd how foreigners who cannot run their own country, condemns ours. Then turn around, and in the same breath stand proudly next to socialism.
I take four meds. Two of them I pay a dollar for and one other is 6 dollars, the other is around 3 dollars...........I'm sure not feeling the pinch PJL hopes for all of us.
The real grab is in the cancer department. Those drugs are near to impossible to get and treatment is constantly shifting and unless you're heavily over-insured.................
those premiums are skyhigh and designed for the special people.
Me? I don't care much about all of that. I am more than satisfied with what I have.

[Padme]

What You Need To Know About Medicare For All, Part I

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoo.../#12f31ea73d3f


Here are seven things you need to know.

1. Medicare is not really government insurance.



2.The most successful part of Medicare is run by private insurers.


3. Medicare is often the last insurer to adopt innovations that work.


4. Medicare has wasted enormous sums on innovations that don’t work.


5. Most seniors in conventional Medicare are participating in stealth privatization, even though they are unaware of it.


6. There is nothing Medicare can do that employers and private insurers can’t do.


7. Medicare for all would be costly.

[Padme]

Medicare for All: why not?

No because it will not work!! If people believe there will be "free" health care, they are setting up themselves to HUGE disappointments.

[carolina73]

What You Need To Know About Medicare For All, Part I


https://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoo.../#12f31ea73d3f


Here are seven things you need to know.

1. Medicare is not really government insurance.



2.The most successful part of Medicare is run by private insurers.


3. Medicare is often the last insurer to adopt innovations that work.


4. Medicare has wasted enormous sums on innovations that don’t work.


5. Most seniors in conventional Medicare are participating in stealth privatization, even though they are unaware of it.


6. There is nothing Medicare can do that employers and private insurers can’t do.


7. Medicare for all would be costly.

They are selling "Medicaid for all" but know that Medicaid is and sounds like welfare.