Whoa. *Checks blog to be sure I'm in the right place* Nope. It's the right place.
Wait. So, the socialist is telling us to let capitalism take care of something? What sort of topsy-turvy world are we now living in?
I mean, first of all, have you looked around lately?
Secondly, yes. There is a place capitalism would absolutely help us get to where we need to be and that place is health care in the US.
We're on that downward trajectory towards another presidential election and we all know what that means: There are 1,576 Democratic candidates who all say they can
a) Beat DJT
b) Get actual shit done that actual citizens need to live actual comfortable lives that are not merely "quietly desperate lives filled with worry and fear but also with an iPhone and a decent car so that means we're OK".
c) Beat DJT
One of the top issues is health care.
Now, that's silly, because "On Day One" of the Trump presidency, he repealed Obamacare and instituted the most greatest health care that's ever been seen in the history of the universe. Everyone is healthy now, everything is free, and no one even dies anymore. If you start falling, a little fairy wearing a MAGA hat magically appears, catches you, and gives you a nice cup of covefe.
Hahahahahahahaha. Just kidding. He didn't do shit.
Obama wanted to include a "public option" in the ACA (what most of us refer to as Obamacare. Like most of us will forever refer to the concentration camps on the border as TrumpCamps but that's another blog) which meant that if you were paying into Medicare out of your paychecks, you could sign up for Medicare even before the age of 65. Or, you could keep your work-sponsored or private insurance. That's the "option" part of Public Option. Your choice. Option.
The American people responded by hollering like stuck hogs and stampeding off over the horizon, screaming 'SOCIALISTS ARE COMING TO KILL US!'
So, here we are. Trump has managed to change just enough in Obamacare to screw it up and hurt people, but we have yet to see the promised "Republican beautiful health care plan that will cover everyone and be so affordable and we just won't believe it!" Let's all get our Surprised Faces out.
Therefore, health care is a big issue for the Dems who want to be POTUS.
And here's where I disagree with one of my favorite people, Bernie Sanders. Bernie has come out in front of god and everyone saying he wants to *abolish* the private health care system and force everyone onto Medicare for All, as have several others of the ginormous field of contenders.
Really?
Really really?
Oh. Em. Gee. You cannot do that. Cannot.
Not just that this will literally HAND the election to DJT on a silver platter (covered in hamberders) because he will be absolutely able to fan the flames of fear of lack of individual freedoms, but that this fanning will be justified. You cannot just suddenly eliminate our current system of health care and here's why.
First, see above about causing at least 1/3 of Americans (those who still support this president against all facts, odds, and sensibilities) to run screaming into the hills, shooting over their shoulders, and yelling that we ain't takin' their right to die as free men and wimmen away from them, dang it.
Second, the private insurance sector isn't just some amorphous thing with a few super-rich dudes sitting at the controls (channeling my inner Wizard of Oz here). Thousands and tens of thousands of actual middle class American citizens get up every day and to go work to feed their families at...private insurance companies. You can't just suddenly put them out of work.
Third, and most important because it (finally) ties in the title of this piece, if you do the Public Option- open up Medicare to those paying into it regardless of age and let their dependents also access it, and let everyone who is uninsured onto Medicaid without jumping thru hoops and ridiculous wait times, the capitalist system will literally sort it out for us, and here's how.
Say we have a public option. The guy who keeps his work-based insurance keeps paying into Medicare/Medicaid *and* his part of his premiums at work. His paycheck deductions have gone up maybe 3% so not a lot, but some. Over time, he sees his co-workers who are on Medicare
-get the same or better care as he does
-get to take home the money he's still spending on his premiums. And co-pays. And deductibles.
Unless he's a lunatic, he's going to be on Medicare before long. And that will be a long enough shake-down period that people now working in the private sector can transition to the public sector as their jobs transfer over.
See? No one has to "take" anything from anyone.
The beauty of the Free Market will work it out for us.
