Medicare 101:
The Medicare system is an HMO plain and simple, it is a structured plan that is NOT designed to or pay for any health care other than maintaining your CURRENT HEALTH!
When you first enroll in Medicare you get your one and only FREE medical exam (YOUR WELCOME TO MEDICARE EXAM) so Medicare can project, based on your current health, the long term costs of your medical needs to the system.
By the way this is the last free exam that anyone gets from Medicare, after this you pay 100% of the costs for annual exams unless you are showing symptoms of a diagnosable nature and that was the reason the exam was performed.(or if you have supplemental insurance or a Medicare Advantage plan(Medicare part C) that covers annual physical exams and testing)
And just to let you know what these liars have already done they have removed one of the 3 types of Medicare part C plans,the Private Fee For Service (PFFS) which is not a NETWORK plan (I think you know what a network plan is by now right?) by removing the federal subsidies that were passed in 2003 with the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA 2003). ( Why this is important and how it is part of their ground work for taking over ALL HEALTH CARE will become crystal clear in a moment.
This medical evaluation becomes critical to their budget projections because the dollars spent by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ( we will call them CMS ) are from one source but controlled by 2 separate bodies. Medicare is a federal budget and the dollars spent are totally managed at CMS. Medicaid is funded by CMS but managed by each STATE with federal guidelines for allocation and county to county distribution. This is where it gets a little technical but bear with me and you will get it!
The dollars created for both and how they are spent is where CMS and the Gov. are in control. The FICA tax you pay funds part A of Medicare and pays the hospital bills only, part B is paid for out of your SSIB account or out of pocket when taken. And with these costs you still have to pay $1064 part A deductible + 20% of the hospital bill if hospitalized and the 20% for the doctors that Medicare part B does not pay. That is why Medicare Advantage and Medigap insurance is so important, it covers those expenses making them more affordable to everyone on Medicare.
So a single payer system is already in place and not working. But it must become the only player in the game for Govcare to succeed and this is why:
1. Currently any doctor who accepts Medicare must accept payment based on a schedule ( think of a McDonald's menu you know what a burger costs when you walk in) this schedule of fees for service is massive. It is based on many factors but the big ones are:
A. Where you live and what the doctors and hospitals who do not accept Medicare charge for the same medical procedures.
B. What the per capita tax rate and average mean income for the COUNTY you live in, ( yes it is done county by county) based on the most recent census data. (which means their information is updated every 10 years) could you run your company on data that old?
C. The current and projected costs of Medicaid patients and non-payers at Facilities that accept indigents and non-insureds .( yes we pay for them )
2. Currently a little more than 50% of Dr.s' in this country accept Medicare, the reason is Medicare pays 85 cents on the dollar for the Dr.s' service compared to what they could charge for the same procedures to non Medicare patients.
3. If you have an alternative to non-network care that is not dispensed like fast food at a counter and there are alternatives to Gov. clinics to get medical treatment, there is enough wealth in this country that the Govcare could not get and keep the medical professionals and hospitals to provide the care to the number of people that they want in it unless they TAKE THEM OVER!
4. They cannot allow private insurance companies to continue as part of the paying system for fear that more and more Dr.s and hospitals will stop accepting GovCare and negotiate directly with the insurance companies and create private health care networks outside of government control. (these already exist within Medicare Advantage plans in large cities in many states)
So for this plan to really work GovCare, MUST TAKE COMPLETE CONTROL OVER ALL HEALTH CARE OR TOO MAY WILL SLIP THRU THE CRACKS AS THEY DO IN ENGLAND AND FRANCE WHERE THE NUMBER ONE VACATIONS TAKEN ARE MEDICAL JUNKETS TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES FOR MEDICALLY NECESSARY PROCEDURES!
They will seize control of this countries health care network in order to force a controlled pricing structure to lower the cost of care to fit budgetary constraints, just as they do in every country with socialized medicine.
If any alternative medicine that is not based on what they say you can have or not have is still available within the borders of this country, you will not rely on them to receive your care. They will lose the control of the dollars that are necessary to keep it financially viable and lose control over the distribution of those dollars.
And never forget that the value of your health will become a simple matter of math, if you are young and a good long term tax source for them, you will have more value to them than someone who is not!
They are not going to spend money keeping you alive if it not fiscally responsible, they can't afford to keep you alive if you are only going to pay taxes for a limited time or are of limited means and in a lower tax bracket.
Then once they have full control over the health provider networks and populace they can force any and all drug companies or medical equipment manufacturers to negotiate at their terms, not on a level footing as is done now. And the incentives for these companies to fund research and create new life saving methods and drugs will not be sustainable.
The best and brightest will go elsewhere to practice, the multi-nationals will move out of our system and we will be left with Medicaid for all which is the worst care imaginable. Just go to any city hospital emergency room on a weekend evening and you will see what they have in store for your future medical care!
Last thing before class is dismissed, the 3rd largest employment sector in this country is health care, now you know why this regime is pushing this as hard as they can.
It is critical for their national progressive socialist movement to control every facet of your life or you will wake up one day and realize YOU ARE LIVING IN NAZI GERMANY CIRCA 1934!
Dr. Keith C. Westbrook PhD
"Fore" is the warning in golf that trouble is heading your way, prepare for it by looking up and see it coming or duck and hide and get hit!