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Introduction
“Medicare for All” is an intentional misnomer used to disguise free, single-payer insurance as the popular Medicare plan that so many are currently using for health insurance. Most parts of real Medicare require some form of cost sharing by patients. Medicare Part B, for outpatient medical expenses, has a standard premium of $1,626/per year with an annual deductible of $185, plus a 20% copayment. Dental coverage, vision insurance and useful drug coverage cost even more money.
Medicare for All would have much broader coverage, no cost sharing, and fewer choices of healthcare plans. MFA would cover a wide variety of dental, vision, drug and mental health services not covered by Medicare. The most recent version of the House bill would add long-term nursing and home healthcare. All of this would mean dramatically higher federal spending; the various estimates come in between $2.5T and $3.5T/year. That’s trillions of dollars per year with a current federal budget of $4.4T; meaning that the budget would increase by about 68% right off the bat.
Supporters of MFA are not being at all honest about what they are pushing. Opponents of MFA are being strangely silent because of ignorance, fear or for not having a platform. That’s the subject of today’s 10-minute podcast.
Continuing
If you want no cost, single-payer insurance, then stand up and say it. Don’t hide behind giving everyone good ol’ Medicare. Hey, if it is good enough for our seniors, then it’s good enough for everyone. Right?
And if you are against no cost, single-payer insurance, then stand up and be counted. Know what it costs. Know the difference between MFA and currently popular Medicare.
This is exactly like the border security debate, where statements and claims like “Walls don’t work”, “Walls are inhuman” and, “We do not have a border problem.” really means that the speaker wants open borders. The correct assessment is that voters in America would not support a push for open borders, as they would not support single-payer health insurance, so let’s just pretend that we want something less drastic. Let’s creep up on what we really want. In other words, lie.
How many have heard the story about the frog in boiling water? If you drop a frog in boiling water, he will jump out and save himself. If you put a frog in a pot full of room temperature water and gradually heat it to boiling, he will stay in and die. Learning from the experiments on frogs, most leading supporters of both open borders and single-payer health insurance are putting us in tepid water, completely prepared to raise the temperature to where they want it–be that a nation with no borders, or a country with no cost insurance that covers everything for everybody. I am clearly not for either, but that is not today’s central point.
It is clear in today’s example that the frogs represent Americans, us, you and me. Politicians of a certain stripe are putting us into the room temperature water, fully intending to raise the temperature gradually so that we will not notice and jump out.
Now for Today’s Key Point: If you are for something, have the courage of your convictions and stand up and claim what you want. Don’t do the frog thing. Conversely, if you are against something, know what you are talking about, and stand up on your hind legs and call it out. Be heard. Be effective. And don’t be the frog.
Not being the frog who lets the heat creep up on him is part of what Revolution 2.0™ is all about. Not letting yourself be put in the water in the first place is more of what we are about. As is keeping fellow Americans out of the pot. More of what we are about is taking control from those who use these kind of tactics to fulfill their personal and professional agendas.
Segueing from the specifics of today’s topic to overall principles, the core, driving principles at Revolution 2.0, are:
And do it all in love; without love, these are empty gestures, destined to go nowhere and mean nothing.
If we apply those two core principles, personal responsibility and brother’s keepers, simultaneously, never only one or the other, we will always be on the right path. Depending upon what we face, one principle or the other may appropriately be given more emphasis, but they are always acted upon together.
The Founders, Revolution 1.0, were declared traitors by the British Crown, and their lives were forfeit if caught. We risk very little by stepping up and participating in Revolution 2.0™. In fact, we risk our futures if we don’t. I am inviting you, recruiting you, to join Revolution 2.0™ today. Join with me in using what we know how to do–what we know we must do–to everyone’s advantage. Let’s practice thinking well of others as we seek common goals, research the facts that apply to those goals, and use non agenda-based reasoning to achieve those goals together. Practice personal responsibility and be your brother’s keeper.
Let’s continue to build on the revolutionary vision that we inherited. Read the blog, listen to the podcast, subscribe, recruit, act. Here’s what I mean by “acting.”
Revolution 1.0 in 1776 was built by people talking to other people, agreeing and disagreeing, but always finding ways to stay united and go forward. Revolution 2.0 will be built the same way.
Join me. Join the others. Think about what we are talking about and share these thoughts and principles with others. Subscribe, encourage others to subscribe. Act. Let’s grow this together.
And visit the store. Fun stuff, including hats, mugs and t-shirts. Recommend other items that you’d like to see.
Links and References
Expensive Now? Wait Until It’s Free! (EP. 100)
Is Our Border Issue a National Crisis? (EP. 111)
Contact
As we get ready to wrap up, please do respond in the blog with comments or questions about this podcast or anything that comes to mind, or connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. And you can subscribe to the podcast on your favorite device through Apple Podcasts, Google, or Stitcher.
Now it is time for our usual parting thought. It is not enough to be informed. It is not enough to be a well informed voter. We need to act. And if we, you and I, don’t do something, then the others who are doing something, will continue to run the show.
Know your stuff, then act on it. Knowing your stuff without acting is empty; acting without knowing is dangerous.
Will Luden, writing to you from my home office at 7,200’ in Colorado Springs.
