Yeah, I just became eligible for Medicare last year and it's very confusing with all the different Medicare Advantage plans. Not all doctors accept all plans and you still have to pay something. The Advantage plan I chose last year was cancelled and so I had to choose another. But at least I get $120 every 3 months to spend on band-aids and sun screen!
I'm fortunate to be in good health and to have the resources to take of my medical expenses so I'm not too worried, but people who think that Medicare for All will cure our health care affordability problems are in for rude awakening.
The fundamental problem with paying for health care is that there is an almost unlimited demand for care and there is a limited supply. Rationing has to occur at some point, whether it's the government deciding who gets what treatment or the people who can afford to pay for it.
People seem to think that healthcare is somehow immune to the law of supply and demand. Subsidizing demand to make things more "affordable" when you have limited supply never works.
Rationing occurs now. Medicare pays doctors less and less look after us elderly. Basically the government wants us to die excuse we’re becoming too expensive.
Don't forget the ludicrous "Wellness" exam that gatekeeps those on Medicare from getting a true physical. The "Wellness" exam is nothing but data collection and tracking.
That exam infuriates me. My doc insists we come once a year for a ridiculously simple and insulting cognitive test, and a short discussion with my doc who never lays a hand on me. The purpose in money - his hospital gets paid for every Medicare exam. If we refuse to go, he threatens to stop approving our medications. He's a wonderful doc, but this Medicare scam really angers me.
Same here. I'm seriously considering going to a doctor who doesn't accept Medicare, just so I can schedule and receive a standard, old-fashioned physical exam.
The pitch works because the target demographic has no idea that only hospitalization is included in the basic policy. You pay more premiums, copays, etc. for everything else.
No no if you are an illegal immigrant without means of course it’s free…. It is built into the cost structure of the hospital system and subsidized by the govt and those who DO pay….
If anyone is unclear on the concept get them to visit canada and get on a list for a procedure, or try to find a family doctor.
We have "free" medicare and its in freefall collapse all across canada. Our Conservative government in alberta is still trying new things, this time they are trying out allowing doctors to operate in private as well in the public system.
The left and the health care unions of reasonably portray this as the first step toward genocide.
If that doesn't work, do you know who also liked private health care?
In the USA, we have private health care but it is increasingly difficult to find a doctor of the type you want to see (many do not take your insurance, or they are about to drop your insurance); you have to wait months to get an appointment or have a procedure done; or if you see a doctor once, any follow up will be done by a nurse practitioner.
We have a socialist single payer system, exactly what you and the DSA are proposing in the usa.
And its collapsing all across canada regardless of the stripe of provincial govt (health care is nominally under the provinces) because its unaffordable and unworkable.
The slightest attempt to change anything brings out the loonies, committed to fighting to the death to support the worst performing system in the OECD.
Because the only systems that mimic us are cuba and north korea.
Everyone else has a blend of public and private and all outperform us, but any attempted reform is called "american style" which is their slur.
Canadian progressives will always be the last to get it, as we have been sheltered from the consequences of our stupid policy choices for decades, shelter that Trump is burning down.
Its not his fault we are an economic basket case, he has just exposed it so you cannot miss it.
Anyone falling for old Bernie’s socialism (the old codger had three million-dollar homes) or these wacko DSA candidates, needs to wake up from their utopia dream and realize they’re getting played as useful idiots. 🤦♀️ Extremely high affordability costs are in mostly in blue states and blue cities due to their high taxes, high crime, huge funding to illegals, and corruption.
Doctors right now ARE overwhelmed from the 10 + Million illegals that suddenly showed up under Biden. AND then sanctuary states mostly guarantee free health care for illegals, so Americans are shoved out of line for health care to make room for the 10 million. My idiot liberal friends won't shut up about the long wait for their appointments -- they can't seem to put 2 + 2 together. Oh right, that's racist math.
JMaryH: While I understand the objections to "free health care for illegals", there may be some valid exceptions. If I recall correctly, when Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York City he was asked whether illegal aliens (or undocumented immigrants, or perhaps, in super woke lingo, "persons experiencing undocumentedness") should receive health care at the city's hospitals. He answered with a qualified yes. For example, if someone shows up at a hospital's emergency room with an acute injury or illness, the staff often don't have the time or resources to verify the patient's citizenship or immigration status, or ability to pay the costs of treatment. The patient may not possess the necessary documents on his/her person, or be unable to communicate coherently. By the time his/her status is verified, which could take anywhere from minutes to hours or even days, he/she may have already dropped dead. So the only thing the staff can reasonably do is to treat the person now and ask immigration and/or payment questions later, if at all.
When I moved to NYC from teaching English in S. Korea, I was poor as a church mouse. Had an accident that required a visit to the ER at Bellevue. Packed to the gills with immigrants getting 'free' healthcare. Once upon a time I was turned away in San Francisco for not having insurance -- same scenario -- a room full of immigrants getting "care" while I, a US citizen paying taxes, was told to go take a hike.
Undocumented people are NOT eligible for either Obamacare subsidies or FEDERAL Medicaid insurance coverage.
Hospitals are required to provide people with emergency care regardless of immigration status or ability to pay because of the "The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) passed in 1986 during the REAGAN admin. It requires hospital ERs that accept payments from Medicare to provide an appropriate medical screening examination (MSE) for anyone seeking treatment for a medical condition regardless of citizenship, legal status, or ability to pay.
Biden did NOT admit 10 M illegal immigrants. There were already 11 M illegal immigrants by 2020. Estimates of illegal immigrants in 2024 range from 14M to 15.8M.
What these idiots don't understand is that Medicare costs nearly $200/mo AFTER you've turned 65 and have paid in for your entire working life.
The fact is, all Americans are on Medicare right now. But those who are under 65 only pay in and don't get anything out. Hey, kids, this wasn't my idea. Blame LBJ.
Good luck trying to find a doctor or get admitted to a hospital when you are competing with the other 350 million people plus whoever walks or flys across the American border (if the Dems get Open Borders, then why bother with customs at the airport?) Older people who need care might want to start checking on the states that permit euthanasia
What USA politician will tell 90M people receiving free Medicaid that under any one payer system (Medicare For All) everyone pays (huge VATs, increased income taxes, supplemental policies and of course Medicare has significant monthly premiums).
If the Republicans can't get out of their own way and find a message that resonates, they have no chance in November. "Affordability" is such an easy thing to run on. The "it was Biden's fault" line has expired. "They're all Commies" doesn't work because it might not be so bad, after all, or some such idiocy. Without a clear, repeatable, relatable message, they're toast.
Right! The Dems and DSA keep saying they will address "affordability", but they NEVER say how or when they will fix it or how much it'll cost us taxpayers.
Republicans have always sucked at messaging. They’ve always been weak and feckless. They have a silver platter and always give it away. It’s shocking the right can ever even win with the Marxist media and our feckless leaders. It should be quite easy to call these crazies out, but it almost seems the right want to lose, get paid and go on TV, and avoid the hard work of leading. It’s incredibly frustrating and pathetic. Any of us could likely do a much better job than most of them. Very frustrating and worrisome.
Does anyone even remember the utter disaster known as Obamacare??
Fool me once shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Anything and Everything government meddles in gets destroyed and we end up with the bill and all the headaches that come with their all their stupid fantasies.
They’re trying to buy votes by pretending it’s all free and shiny and bright! But they’ll make healthcare even more of a disaster than it already is. Just look at Cuba, the UK or Canada!
There’s NO SUCH THING as a FREE LUNCH. Somebody’s always paying - and we’ll pay dearly for this communist pipe dream.
The late P.J. O'Rourke wrote "If you think healthcare is expensive now, just wait until it's free". What the DSA demagogues fail to mention is the necessary rationing that are a feature of national healthcare plans. Canada and the UK have 2-year waiting lists for surgeries.
I wonder if those waitlists apply to everyone? Or could it be that politicians and VIPs get to cut in line? Or they get a special queue. Or special medical care. Rules for thee and not for me, and such.
Healthcare is always and everywhere rationed either by price or availability or both. In many of the darling countries it takes 5 weeks or more to get a simple MRI. We have twice as many MRI machines in New England alone than the Canadians have in the whole country. The only thing the Free countries do better is PR.
The last time the Democrats said they were going to lower our health insurance cost, our premium went from $1,200/mo w/$1,000 deductible for a great comprehensive Cadillac plan to $4,200/mo w/$5,000 deductible non-comprehensive Gold Plan. Thanks for wrecking our ability to save for retirement, Jackasses!
Here is the problem. We continue to think that if we state the facts and prove incontrovertibly the fallacy of what the Communists and socialists are promoting, that somehow it will get traction with voters. Nothing could be further from reality. The Left are not threatened by the truth, because they have no accountability. They lie with impunity. They don't care what the results are of their policies. The mindless morons that vote for them will vote for them regardless. Understand that all these people want is power. They will say anything, and do anything to achieve it. When the policies fail, it will be way too late, they will have already achieved their goal. They will have corrupted the process in such a fashion that it will be impossible to get rid of them. As for the useful idiots in the electorate, in the press, and in the education system, they will be the first to be purged. We are inches away.
I’ve been reading more about the affordability crisis. A good chunk of that is because fuel prices (including natural gas) are quite high. That in turn is partially because of Iran, but even more because the left has spent the last 3 decades shutting down every source of fuel and energy possible in the US. Fewer refineries, fewer pipelines, fewer wells.
Fuel is a major input into almost everything: truck and train transportation, storage, production, electricity, … the Left (with plenty of help from the right) has made energy production and consumption in the US far less affordable than it would otherwise be.
So in addition to throwing open our borders, importing voters who are often diametrically and even violently opposed to our culture and country, offering free medicine/housing/phones, and not enforcing violent crimes perpetrated by illegal migrants against US citizens, the Left has also made basically everything far
More expensive.
Yet Trump and the Republicans are blamed.
In part the Republicans should be blamed like Charlie Brown is to be blamed for trusting Lucy will hold the football, and so many of them have been complicit if not stealth accomplices. But until they figure out how to get that message to the independents and handful of persuadable Democrats (are there any???), they will lose
I worked 5 decades for Medicare and SSI. And I'm STILL PAYING! Don't come here and get free anything. I don't get free anything, nothing! I pay real estate taxes, school taxes, per capita taxes, sales tax, gas tax, FEDERAL INCOME TAX, I'm sick of hearing the Bernie Bros talking this crap. You wonder why small town hospitals are going bankrupt??
The funniest part of “Medicare for All” is that it’s not free!
$300 per month is standard, with additional for drug coverage.
They never mention that part.
Yeah, I just became eligible for Medicare last year and it's very confusing with all the different Medicare Advantage plans. Not all doctors accept all plans and you still have to pay something. The Advantage plan I chose last year was cancelled and so I had to choose another. But at least I get $120 every 3 months to spend on band-aids and sun screen!
I'm fortunate to be in good health and to have the resources to take of my medical expenses so I'm not too worried, but people who think that Medicare for All will cure our health care affordability problems are in for rude awakening.
The fundamental problem with paying for health care is that there is an almost unlimited demand for care and there is a limited supply. Rationing has to occur at some point, whether it's the government deciding who gets what treatment or the people who can afford to pay for it.
I'm in good health too, but my trust of the system is such that I must die outside the hospital…I am on my own, brother. So are most of us. Live long.
Yeah, and what with transgender surgeries and all that folly 'paid for by taxes' the premiums will escalate....
Mr. Mamdani wants that on the table in NYC.
It’s just like those who believe they can live on Social Security payments….
People seem to think that healthcare is somehow immune to the law of supply and demand. Subsidizing demand to make things more "affordable" when you have limited supply never works.
Rationing occurs now. Medicare pays doctors less and less look after us elderly. Basically the government wants us to die excuse we’re becoming too expensive.
You need to go here: https://askchapter.org
Get some help from them about which Medicare plan is best for you, and it's free. I rue the day I have to do this and it is not terribly far away.
Don't forget the ludicrous "Wellness" exam that gatekeeps those on Medicare from getting a true physical. The "Wellness" exam is nothing but data collection and tracking.
That exam infuriates me. My doc insists we come once a year for a ridiculously simple and insulting cognitive test, and a short discussion with my doc who never lays a hand on me. The purpose in money - his hospital gets paid for every Medicare exam. If we refuse to go, he threatens to stop approving our medications. He's a wonderful doc, but this Medicare scam really angers me.
Same here. I'm seriously considering going to a doctor who doesn't accept Medicare, just so I can schedule and receive a standard, old-fashioned physical exam.
Yeah, I just had my annual "exam" with the three words and the clock. It really makes you feel as if you are now the property of Medicare.
Wait till the 90M on free Medicaid figure that out.
The pitch works because the target demographic has no idea that only hospitalization is included in the basic policy. You pay more premiums, copays, etc. for everything else.
Plus supplemental policies to cover the 20% Medicare does not pay for.
Plus the ~$50K the typical worker pays in Medicare taxes before turning 65 and qualifying for Medicare.
No no if you are an illegal immigrant without means of course it’s free…. It is built into the cost structure of the hospital system and subsidized by the govt and those who DO pay….
And Medicare only pays 80% of the charges.
If anyone is unclear on the concept get them to visit canada and get on a list for a procedure, or try to find a family doctor.
We have "free" medicare and its in freefall collapse all across canada. Our Conservative government in alberta is still trying new things, this time they are trying out allowing doctors to operate in private as well in the public system.
The left and the health care unions of reasonably portray this as the first step toward genocide.
If that doesn't work, do you know who also liked private health care?
Hilter.
Just think about that.
Do you know who drank a lot of water?
Hitler
He avoided kidney stones. You can too by getting your recommended daily dose of agua
In the USA, we have private health care but it is increasingly difficult to find a doctor of the type you want to see (many do not take your insurance, or they are about to drop your insurance); you have to wait months to get an appointment or have a procedure done; or if you see a doctor once, any follow up will be done by a nurse practitioner.
So you admit your system works better. I can only dream of what you describe
I didn't get a clear idea of what Canada is like from your post, but the US has definitly changed over the last couple decades.
We have a socialist single payer system, exactly what you and the DSA are proposing in the usa.
And its collapsing all across canada regardless of the stripe of provincial govt (health care is nominally under the provinces) because its unaffordable and unworkable.
The slightest attempt to change anything brings out the loonies, committed to fighting to the death to support the worst performing system in the OECD.
Because the only systems that mimic us are cuba and north korea.
Everyone else has a blend of public and private and all outperform us, but any attempted reform is called "american style" which is their slur.
Canadian progressives will always be the last to get it, as we have been sheltered from the consequences of our stupid policy choices for decades, shelter that Trump is burning down.
Its not his fault we are an economic basket case, he has just exposed it so you cannot miss it.
Do you mean Adolf Hitler? The guy who quite openly liked dogs?
Enough said about THAT character.
Who is your "Hilter" ? Your fourth-grade teacher?
Those lacking a sense of humor shouldn’t play this game.
Anyone falling for old Bernie’s socialism (the old codger had three million-dollar homes) or these wacko DSA candidates, needs to wake up from their utopia dream and realize they’re getting played as useful idiots. 🤦♀️ Extremely high affordability costs are in mostly in blue states and blue cities due to their high taxes, high crime, huge funding to illegals, and corruption.
Those truths have been out there for all to see, but the sheeple never bother to even look….
Maybe I’m confused (‘cuz I’m 67) but wouldn’t Medicare for all take away from Medicare for old people? (Like me?)
Where will the money for this come from? Won’t doctors be overwhelmed?
Ugh!
Doctors right now ARE overwhelmed from the 10 + Million illegals that suddenly showed up under Biden. AND then sanctuary states mostly guarantee free health care for illegals, so Americans are shoved out of line for health care to make room for the 10 million. My idiot liberal friends won't shut up about the long wait for their appointments -- they can't seem to put 2 + 2 together. Oh right, that's racist math.
JMaryH: While I understand the objections to "free health care for illegals", there may be some valid exceptions. If I recall correctly, when Rudy Giuliani was mayor of New York City he was asked whether illegal aliens (or undocumented immigrants, or perhaps, in super woke lingo, "persons experiencing undocumentedness") should receive health care at the city's hospitals. He answered with a qualified yes. For example, if someone shows up at a hospital's emergency room with an acute injury or illness, the staff often don't have the time or resources to verify the patient's citizenship or immigration status, or ability to pay the costs of treatment. The patient may not possess the necessary documents on his/her person, or be unable to communicate coherently. By the time his/her status is verified, which could take anywhere from minutes to hours or even days, he/she may have already dropped dead. So the only thing the staff can reasonably do is to treat the person now and ask immigration and/or payment questions later, if at all.
When I moved to NYC from teaching English in S. Korea, I was poor as a church mouse. Had an accident that required a visit to the ER at Bellevue. Packed to the gills with immigrants getting 'free' healthcare. Once upon a time I was turned away in San Francisco for not having insurance -- same scenario -- a room full of immigrants getting "care" while I, a US citizen paying taxes, was told to go take a hike.
AMEN!
Undocumented people are NOT eligible for either Obamacare subsidies or FEDERAL Medicaid insurance coverage.
Hospitals are required to provide people with emergency care regardless of immigration status or ability to pay because of the "The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) passed in 1986 during the REAGAN admin. It requires hospital ERs that accept payments from Medicare to provide an appropriate medical screening examination (MSE) for anyone seeking treatment for a medical condition regardless of citizenship, legal status, or ability to pay.
States have their own individual rules for health care for immigrants. This article describes what health care is available for immigrants in different states: https://media.nilc.org/2026/03/med-services-for-imms-in-states-2026-03-.pdf
Biden did NOT admit 10 M illegal immigrants. There were already 11 M illegal immigrants by 2020. Estimates of illegal immigrants in 2024 range from 14M to 15.8M.
https://usahousinginformation.com/how-many-illegal-immigrants-are-in-the-us/ "How Many Illegal Immigrants Are in the US? Latest 2026 Estimate"
Oh that makes the open border ok then. Anyway, those numbers are questionable.
What these idiots don't understand is that Medicare costs nearly $200/mo AFTER you've turned 65 and have paid in for your entire working life.
The fact is, all Americans are on Medicare right now. But those who are under 65 only pay in and don't get anything out. Hey, kids, this wasn't my idea. Blame LBJ.
And Bush
Good luck trying to find a doctor or get admitted to a hospital when you are competing with the other 350 million people plus whoever walks or flys across the American border (if the Dems get Open Borders, then why bother with customs at the airport?) Older people who need care might want to start checking on the states that permit euthanasia
What USA politician will tell 90M people receiving free Medicaid that under any one payer system (Medicare For All) everyone pays (huge VATs, increased income taxes, supplemental policies and of course Medicare has significant monthly premiums).
No one gets free coverage under Medicare for All.
Congratulations Sasha on a brilliant, simple Gotcha. And your graphics are tremendous.
Blessings,
Ken Hagerty
If the Republicans can't get out of their own way and find a message that resonates, they have no chance in November. "Affordability" is such an easy thing to run on. The "it was Biden's fault" line has expired. "They're all Commies" doesn't work because it might not be so bad, after all, or some such idiocy. Without a clear, repeatable, relatable message, they're toast.
Biden’s cumulative CPI inflation was 21%.
Trump’s is 5.1%.
I get it though it won’t resonate with voters. That’s a stat, not a message.
Voters won’t care one bit. They will care about the current state of the economy.
That was my exact point.
“Affordability” is an empty slogan without anything realistic to back it up.
Yet, it works every time. People will fall for it, over and over.
I’m not so sure. Democrats are on the wrong side of too many popular issues: immigration, crime, trans ideology, and more.
Right! The Dems and DSA keep saying they will address "affordability", but they NEVER say how or when they will fix it or how much it'll cost us taxpayers.
The "affordability" argument is basically a hoax: the Fed guarantees that prices go always up, never down. 2% per year is their target.
Republicans have always sucked at messaging. They’ve always been weak and feckless. They have a silver platter and always give it away. It’s shocking the right can ever even win with the Marxist media and our feckless leaders. It should be quite easy to call these crazies out, but it almost seems the right want to lose, get paid and go on TV, and avoid the hard work of leading. It’s incredibly frustrating and pathetic. Any of us could likely do a much better job than most of them. Very frustrating and worrisome.
CORRECTION: Without a clear, repeatable, relatable message, and a miracle from the Living YHVH/God, the MAGA movement is toast.
Does anyone even remember the utter disaster known as Obamacare??
Fool me once shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Anything and Everything government meddles in gets destroyed and we end up with the bill and all the headaches that come with their all their stupid fantasies.
They’re trying to buy votes by pretending it’s all free and shiny and bright! But they’ll make healthcare even more of a disaster than it already is. Just look at Cuba, the UK or Canada!
There’s NO SUCH THING as a FREE LUNCH. Somebody’s always paying - and we’ll pay dearly for this communist pipe dream.
The late P.J. O'Rourke wrote "If you think healthcare is expensive now, just wait until it's free". What the DSA demagogues fail to mention is the necessary rationing that are a feature of national healthcare plans. Canada and the UK have 2-year waiting lists for surgeries.
I wonder if those waitlists apply to everyone? Or could it be that politicians and VIPs get to cut in line? Or they get a special queue. Or special medical care. Rules for thee and not for me, and such.
The UK allows private insurance. Canadá does not.
Outside of private, are there ways that VIPs bypass things?
I can't speak to that as I was in the private sector.
Wouldn't the simple solution be to travel to the US or other countries for care?
Canada has solved its ailing "free" very expensive health care system, it's called m.a.i.d. look into it its pure evil.
Healthcare is always and everywhere rationed either by price or availability or both. In many of the darling countries it takes 5 weeks or more to get a simple MRI. We have twice as many MRI machines in New England alone than the Canadians have in the whole country. The only thing the Free countries do better is PR.
The last time the Democrats said they were going to lower our health insurance cost, our premium went from $1,200/mo w/$1,000 deductible for a great comprehensive Cadillac plan to $4,200/mo w/$5,000 deductible non-comprehensive Gold Plan. Thanks for wrecking our ability to save for retirement, Jackasses!
The republicans need all the help they can get. To save themselves from sleepwalking through the midterms
Here is the problem. We continue to think that if we state the facts and prove incontrovertibly the fallacy of what the Communists and socialists are promoting, that somehow it will get traction with voters. Nothing could be further from reality. The Left are not threatened by the truth, because they have no accountability. They lie with impunity. They don't care what the results are of their policies. The mindless morons that vote for them will vote for them regardless. Understand that all these people want is power. They will say anything, and do anything to achieve it. When the policies fail, it will be way too late, they will have already achieved their goal. They will have corrupted the process in such a fashion that it will be impossible to get rid of them. As for the useful idiots in the electorate, in the press, and in the education system, they will be the first to be purged. We are inches away.
I’ve been reading more about the affordability crisis. A good chunk of that is because fuel prices (including natural gas) are quite high. That in turn is partially because of Iran, but even more because the left has spent the last 3 decades shutting down every source of fuel and energy possible in the US. Fewer refineries, fewer pipelines, fewer wells.
Fuel is a major input into almost everything: truck and train transportation, storage, production, electricity, … the Left (with plenty of help from the right) has made energy production and consumption in the US far less affordable than it would otherwise be.
So in addition to throwing open our borders, importing voters who are often diametrically and even violently opposed to our culture and country, offering free medicine/housing/phones, and not enforcing violent crimes perpetrated by illegal migrants against US citizens, the Left has also made basically everything far
More expensive.
Yet Trump and the Republicans are blamed.
In part the Republicans should be blamed like Charlie Brown is to be blamed for trusting Lucy will hold the football, and so many of them have been complicit if not stealth accomplices. But until they figure out how to get that message to the independents and handful of persuadable Democrats (are there any???), they will lose
I worked 5 decades for Medicare and SSI. And I'm STILL PAYING! Don't come here and get free anything. I don't get free anything, nothing! I pay real estate taxes, school taxes, per capita taxes, sales tax, gas tax, FEDERAL INCOME TAX, I'm sick of hearing the Bernie Bros talking this crap. You wonder why small town hospitals are going bankrupt??