Do you believe what the letter to the editor shown below states?
Sounds pretty convincing doesn’t it? The trouble is it is superficial and reflects only one side of the equation.
For example, Medicare wastes over $60 billion a year through improper payments, including fraud. Some of that is because it’s administrative processes and costs are insufficient. And while we are talking about admin costs, the percentage is also a factor of dollar volume and the type of claims. Plus, many normal admin costs associated with running Medicare are not charged to HHS.
Medicare costs rose faster than the private sector up until 2010 and slightly less since then … because Medicare simply reduced payments to providers shifting costs elsewhere and Obamacare mandated benefit changes that increased costs for private insurers.
Medicare has little or nothing to do with access to care or patient satisfaction with the care received and if you think Medicare provides better financial protection, drop all your Medigap supplemental coverage that costs a couple $400 or more a month.
Medicare does one thing well, it provides some level of coverage for all age 65+ and certain disabled Americans, but it is not structured to be America’s universal coverage.
In the years since, (Medicare’s adoption) Medicare has become proof that public, universal health coverage is superior to private insurance in every way. Medicare is more efficient than private health insurance and is administered at a cost of 3 percent to 4 percent, as opposed to private, for-profit health insurance, which has administrative costs above 15 percent.
Medicare’s costs have risen more slowly than those of private health insurance. Medicare provides better access to care, better financial protection and higher patient satisfaction.
