Why is it that so many people who are ON Medicare, and by-and-large love it.......

[relayerbob]

53. Side comment

I'm on Medicare, I'm for medicare for all, but it has some serious issues that need to be fixed also, both in terms of what is covered and how much, and in terms of who takes it. And also who has political control over who gets what. Presumably the part about who takes it, would not be an issue if that's the only way Dr's get paid, unless the Dr is completely private, which a lot of good ones may do. (Think private school vs public school). One of those, be careful what you wish for issues, there is a LOT of work to be done.

Note, however, that the real root of the problem, created under Reagan, is this corporate/GOP concept of "managed care", where bureaucrat X, where-ever they are located, private or public, has the right to define who gets what procedures and where you can buy prescriptions and for how much, etc. This intervention in medical treatment should be considered malpractice, IMO, since the people making these decisions are not your doctor and have, for the most part, never seen you, nor know anyone's specific needs.

This is to say nothing of the enormous extra costs involved in denying something, then having it appealed, blah, blah. Millions are thrown away due to this, presumably in the hopes enough people will give up or die that the net savings are OK. Plus, as an example, the insurance company tried to convince me to get a particular procedure, and it was unclear as to whether it was necessary. The procedure cost $50k+. A test to verify whether the procedure was even helpful or even called for was denied. The test cost $450. I paid the $450 in cash and the tests were administered by a very nice and funny woman who muttered "bastards" every single time the word "insurance" or any insurance company name was spoken. As it turned out, no need for the procedure at all, in fact, it would have increased my risks with my heart problems significantly. Bear in mind that GOP created managed care will likely result in no funding for birth control, abortions, or other sorts of things they deem politically intolerable, as long as they have the power to do so. Medicare needs to be kept somehow independent of the political process, and good luck with that.

The real solution to these last problems is that this "managed" part needs to go, and whoever is handling the funding needs to do ONLY that. FUND. I get there are cheats. If someone has evidence of fraud that can stand up in court, then intervene, b all means. Otherwise ... stay the hell out of our healthcare issues, whether government or private.