A Secret Exposed -- Medicare Works Better Than Private Insurance

Nothing better symbolizes the corruption of the debate about healthcare reform than the rhetoric about "government-run" healthcare. Or, for that matter, the related argument that we need a "uniquely American" solution which precludes a public system like Medicare for all.

Two reports that notably received scant coverage from either the media or even those advocating the public plan "option" in Congress, reveal the seldom told truth.

Medicare is a "uniquely American" solution, and it works.

* National Nurses Movement's diary


As we approach the 44th birthday of Medicare July 30th, nurses, doctors, and healthcare activists will gather in Washington to celebrate its successes and lobby to extend them by expanding Medicare to cover everyone.

The rally, sponsored by the Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Healthcare, is July 30, at 1 p.m. at Upper Senate Park across from Congress. Check here for more details:

Recent surveys, from the journal Health Affairs and from the Department of Health and Human Services, offer reminders of Medicare's success.

In a May study reported in Health Affairs, Commonwealth Fund leaders found that:

compared to people with private insurance, Medicare enrollees have greater access to care, fewer problems with medical bills, and greater satisfaction with their health plans and the quality of care they receive.

Those findings are especially significant, the report notes, considering that Medicare patients are in the very demographic that has the highest likelihood of poor health, and also tend to have lower incomes.

Yet, only 15 percent of Medicare beneficiaries reported such problems as not being able to pay a medical bill or being hounded by a collection agency, compared to 26 percent of non-Medicare enrollees who have employer-paid health plans.

And, 61 percent of those on Medicare reported they received "excellent or very good quality of care" in the past year compared to less than half those with private insurance.

One of the biggest misleading attacks on Medicare by the anti-government crowd is that it restricts "choice." But the study found that:

Only 10 percent of Medicare beneficiaries said their physician would not take their insurance compared to 17 percent of those with employer coverage.

Perhaps, most important,

"elderly Medicare beneficiaries were also significantly more likely to report being very confident that they could get high quality and safe medical care when needed, and very confident that they would be able to afford the care they need."

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