Matthew Iglesias wants Leftists to "Go to War" over healthcare. He wants to do it for the children.
Just another story about the perverse way American health care is financed. If you're old, you're taken care of by Medicare. If you're very poor, you're taken care of by Medicaid. If you're middle class, however, you're stuck with a system that works great—unless you get sick or lose your job. It's a system that makes a joke of the idea of insurance, which is precisely that it's supposed to come rescue people who suffer bad luck.
It's always the same argument: People just suffer from bad luck, so the government has to take care of them, provide a "social safety net". The children suffer unnecessarily. Medicare and Medicaid exist so the government should do more of the same.
In a word, "NO". The high cost of healthcare is attributable, in part anyway to government. Medicare and Medicaid do not fully reimburse costs. Hospitals are required to treat patients via the ER regardless of ability to pay. Burdensome paperwork requires an army of bureaucrats (insurance paperwork is no less burdensome, but that, too stems from Federal requirements).
I know...I don't care about the poor, the children, the sick and the old.....or polar bears, puppies and butterflies. Actually, I do care. But I care more about my children and grandchildren, my stepfather, my in-laws, and my 92 year-old neighbor. Government has shown their inability to make healthcare more affordable. They need to get out of the business.
Here's the deal: If you are in Medicare or older than, say....55, you will continue to have fully funded Medicare if you like. If you are younger than 55, you will not have a Medicare option. Medicaid is phased out over 10 years. "Catastrophic Care" insurance made available through insurers (and it already exists) is a low-cost way of making sure healthcare is available when needed. Congress enacts tort reform. Done. See that was easy.
War? The Left will lose. They are bullies who run away when punched in the nose.
