Comments on: I’ll Have the Medicare — & Hold the Mayo

By: Anna

Anna — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:20:47 +0000

It’s very easy to keep crying, “Medicare doesn’t pay enough.” (And just for the record, I tend to agree.) However, the question that almost never gets asked–let alone answered–is WHY doesn’t Medicare pay enough? It’s because this country is under the influence of those who believe that any governmental system that takes care of its citizens is, gasp, socialism, or maybe even, bigger gasp, communism. We hear endless arguments about why we shouldn’t have universal, single payer health care, and even when polls show that a majority of Americans favor it, it is never part of any serious discussion. So, huge amounts of our health care dollars go to totally useless (in terms of health care) insurance companies and Medicare is stuck with those who have, in general, the most expensive health care needs, the elderly. At the same time, that care is financed by the younger working generation who are also financing their own health care, whether individually purchased or supplied by their employer. Those whose income derives principally from unearned income, of course, contribute nothing or little to the system. And, of course, none of us is happy to have that money coming out of our income. No one wants to see the FICA Medicare percentage go up. So what happens? To try to remain as solvent as possible, Medicare is forced to limit its reimbursements. Universal, single payer health care would have gone a long way to rectifying some of the problem that is Medicare as it exists today, but a noisy minority has made sure that won’t happen.

By: SK

SK — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:07:46 +0000

Something needs to give. I am fairly healthy (I exercise, been to the doc 2 times in the last 3 years). Yet, nearly 20% of my income goes just to pay premiums and its due to increase in March. With our first kid on the way, I can’t afford not to have it.

During the pregnancy, I have found our private insurer does exactly what medicare does, they don’t pay the full bill. They pay what is “usual and customary,” even for things they claim to cover 100%. They pay the “usual and customary” cost of the same care in Mexico, which doens’t help in Montana.

With what I pay in premiums and “noncovered” medical bills, I don’t think paying the increased taxes for a single payer system would change my financial position. At least I wouldn’t have to deal with the shenanigans of the private insurers.

By: I'll Have the Medicare â€” & Hold the Mayo | The Doctor Is In Injury just to Me

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:02:14 +0000

[...] here to read the rest: I'll Have the Medicare â€” & Hold the Mayo | The Doctor Is In tags: care-at-costs, ethereal-voice, health, mayo, nonprofit, not-taking, other-states, [...]

By: hedberg

hedberg — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:30:56 +0000

I agree that the bigger surprise is that it took so long for them to drop it. I think the biggest problem with the health care “reform” bill is that it only marginally addresses the problems in the insurance industry, while not even touching the elephant in the room that is the medical industry. Without fixing the problems with the Medical Industry, I don’t see how any of the measures they have in place do anything but benefit those who run insurance companies…

By: Ed Skinner

Ed Skinner — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 14:41:28 +0000

My wife and I, not (yet) on Medicare, are Mayo customers as a benefit of the specific plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield my employer (and I) pay for. And to be 100% frank, it is the best medical care we have ever received. The Mayo system is personal, thorough and efficient.

But with the continuing increases in healthcare costs and the growing gap over what our private insurance will and won’t cover, I fear it is just a matter of time before we, too, will be again shopping for a primary caregiver.

I agree that the medical and insurance industries need a major overhaul. I will *gladly* pay more to continue our going to Mayo but, at some point, if may become financially impractical.

And at that point, the comprehensiveness and quality of the care we receive will decline.

Medicare is four years away for us. What we get will be what Mr. Obama and congress force upon us.

I’m not looking forward to that.