medicare for everyone

[cleveramerican]

should our slogan/sales pitch
Obama should repeat it over and over
easy to remember and easy to understand.

what he's doing now ain't working.

[timeforpeace]

1. Just don't let the elderly catch on.

[DavidDvorkin]

2. Huh?

I'm now on Medicare and Social Security, and I've been wondering all along why Obama didn't simply propose expanding Medicare to cover everyone.

Medicare should also be modified to include vision and dental care, it should be complete coverage (no additional private insurance necessary, as is now the case), and the premiums should be reduced or eliminated.

But the principle is simple.

[Enthusiast]

3. We hear GOPers

argue that Medicare is a bad system. Of course Asshole Newt even suggested we allow Medicare to whither and die on the vine. But Medicare is very efficient. If Medicare had all the healthy low risk enrollees that private insurance does the difference in costs would be shocking. Medicare would win out hands down. Private insurance has only one option and that is to dumb down the public and obfuscate the truth and that is exactly what they are doing.

[DavidDvorkin]

4. Not just efficiency

Also niceness. The Social Security Administration people I've dealt with were pleasant, friendly, efficient, knowledgeable, and determined to help me and to get everything right. I've heard the same thing from friends. What a difference from the insurance companies!

[Enthusiast]

5. Oh yeah.

With insurance companies you ARE the enemy. I had to deal with them under the worst of circumstances.

[paulk]

6. it's frustrating that we already have something (medicare)

ready to be converted into a nationwide single payer system, but we don't have political leadership with the courage to do what they KNOW needs to be done.

It would have nice if "change we can believe in" was something more than political rhetoric - Obama has been handed a unique opportunity to be that leader and so far has come up short.