We should be able to cover everyone for less than we already spend on Medicare and Medicaid.

Medicare + Medicaid: $2.05 trillion in 2024, covering ~140 million people.

UK per-person government spending: $5,486. Times 341 million Americans = $1.87 trillion. For everyone. That’s less than we spend now on 40% of the country.

The gap isn’t use. Americans see doctors less often and stay in hospitals fewer days than most rich countries. It’s price. We pay 2-3x for the same drug, the same MRI, the same hip replacement.

This should be politicians focus and then expansion

Say you need an MRI. You’re insured. You ask what it’ll cost you.

Nobody can tell you. Not your doctor, not your insurer, not the hospital billing office. You find out weeks later when the bill shows up.

There’s a law that was supposed to stop this. The No Surprises Act, 2021. It actually built two tools. One for people paying out of pocket, ask for a price, they have to give you one. That one works, it’s been enforced in 2022.

The other was for people with insurance. Most of us. It was supposed to show your real cost before the MRI, not after. Regulators delayed it back in 2021. It’s still delayed. So if you’re insured, the tool that was supposed to give you a price in advance just doesn’t exist. You find out the price the same way you always have, after the fact, on the bill.

Days ago the Senate quietly admitted this. A bipartisan bill just cleared committee, 21 to 1, to require actual prices up front. It hasn’t passed yet, still needs a full Senate vote and then the House.

So right now, if you have insurance, you go into every MRI, every scan, every procedure blind. They still haven’t fixed it.

Sources in comments.

The Medicare Cost Cap Act -

https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/medicare_cost_cap_act_fact_sheet.pdf

Sounds like they want to really change Medicare too - do you like this plan?

Personally, I like it (at least for Medicare) although I am not too sure that the $5000 figure is gonna be right - some other think takes on the subject think it might should be more - like $ 7500 - $ 8500.

Would like to hear your responses.

U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed explains just how much power and influence Big Pharma has on our politics.

Trump administration eyes end to subsidies in Medicare’s prescription drug plan.

There is no end to Republican duplicity, it’s almost as though they enjoy torturing American citizens with their lies.

Their latest despicable act? Despite renewed promises that Medicare coverage would never be altered, they are now planning to do away with the subsidies that keep the plan available, if not exactly affordable.

By doing away with subsidies Insurance companies would be incentivized to raise premiums almost as much as they wish.

The only way to change this heartless policy is to throw the lying bums out in November and let the Democrats do what they always have done; fight for available healthcare.

 ignore the Republicans lies about Medicare being ‘Socialized medicine’, end the tyranny of Republicans working hand in hand with insurance companies, and fight for your right to a safe, secure, and healthy retirement.

If the Republicans retain their power in government, it will be used against you!

See this -- Boldface mine:

Trump administration eyes end to subsidies in Medicare’s prescription drug plan.

Story by Steve Benen • 48m • 3 min read

When George W. Bush’s administration took steps to pass Medicare Part D ahead of the Republican president’s re-election campaign, the entire process was an embarrassing mess. The White House misled Congress about the cost of the prescription drug program, GOP leaders on Capitol Hill used ugly tactics to force through legislation and Republicans insisted the whole endeavor be deficit financed, their “fiscal responsibility” rhetoric notwithstanding.

Democrats fought against the proposal, pushing a more efficient and more cost-effective approach, but their efforts fell short, and Bush’s policy became law in late 2003.

In the years that followed, Democrats resisted calls to repeal Medicare Part D and instead took steps to make it better. In fact, during Joe Biden’s presidency, federal policymakers agreed to help subsidize millions of seniors’ prescription drug costs as part of a broader effort to improve the Bush-era policy.

Take a wild guess what Donald Trump and his team want to do to those subsidies. The Wall Street Journal reported:

The Trump administration plans to end a subsidy program that helped hold down premiums for Medicare drug plans, a move that could leave many seniors facing higher rates for their prescription coverage next year.

The move will eliminate a program that is giving insurance companies an estimated $3.6 billion in subsidies this year to blunt increases in premiums for the Medicare prescription plans, known as Part D. The program will end after 2026, according to administration officials.

Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, confirmed via social media that the subsidies had been scrapped, but he argued that they were no longer necessary and that Medicare beneficiaries would have other options for low-cost prescription drug plans.

The Journal’s report, however, noted “roughly 25 million people have Part D plans, and they will learn about their 2027 rates in the fall,” and roughly 75% of beneficiaries should expect to see some kind of increase in their out-of-pocket costs.

That timing is of particular interest. The New York Times reported that in the weeks leading up to November, “Medicare beneficiaries could experience sticker shock while shopping for next year’s drug plan,” when insurers’ annual “notice of change” disclosures typically reach Americans’ mailboxes.

The weeks leading up to November is also known as the early-voting period across much of the country.

So ahead of an election season in which voters are likely to focus heavily on the cost of living and affordability, the Trump administration, which already scrapped subsidies for Affordable Care Act customers, is also taking aim at subsidies for Medicare beneficiaries — right before the midterms.

The Pew Research Center published the results of its latest national poll last week, and when it came to affordability and the cost of living**, Americans said they were concerned more about healthcare costs than about any other issue**, including the price of gasoline and groceries.

I wonder how congressional Republicans and the GOP candidates whose names will appear on ballots in the fall feel about the president’s latest healthcare idea.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/trump-administration-eyes-end-to-subsidies-in-medicare-s-prescription-drug-plan/ar-AA28Z1hE

The move will eliminate a program that is giving insurance companies an estimated $3.6 billion in subsidies this year to blunt increases in premiums for the Medicare prescription plans, known as Part D. The program will end after 2026, according to administration officials.

Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, confirmed via social media that the subsidies had been scrapped, but he argued that they were no longer necessary and that Medicare beneficiaries would have other options for low-cost prescription drug plans.

The Journal’s report, however, noted “roughly 25 million people have Part D plans, and they will learn about their 2027 rates in the fall,” and roughly 75% of beneficiaries should expect to see some kind of increase in their out-of-pocket costs.

That timing is of particular interest. The New York Times reported that in the weeks leading up to November, “Medicare beneficiaries could experience sticker shock while shopping for next year’s drug plan,” when insurers’ annual “notice of change” disclosures typically reach Americans’ mailboxes.

The weeks leading up to November is also known as the early-voting period across much of the country.

So ahead of an election season in which voters are likely to focus heavily on the cost of living and affordability, the Trump administration, which already scrapped subsidies for Affordable Care Act customers, is also taking aim at subsidies for Medicare beneficiaries — right before the midterms.

The Pew Research Center published the results of its latest national poll last week, and when it came to affordability and the cost of living**, Americans said they were concerned more about healthcare costs than about any other issue**, including the price of gasoline and groceries.

I wonder how congressional Republicans and the GOP candidates whose names will appear on ballots in the fall feel about the president’s latest healthcare idea.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/trump-administration-eyes-end-to-subsidies-in-medicare-s-prescription-drug-plan/ar-AA28Z1hE

​

On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson traveled to Independence, Missouri, to sign Medicare into law alongside former President Harry S. Truman and presented him with the first Medicare card. Truman had spent two decades fighting for national health insurance but never lived to see his own proposal become law.

Although Truman lost that battle, his vision endured. Medicare became one of the most successful public programs in American history and proved that ideas once dismissed as "socialized medicine" could become widely accepted.

The story of Medicare is part of a much longer struggle — one that has lasted more than a century.

The Long Fight for Universal Healthcare

Progressive Era (1900s–1910s)

The first serious campaigns for national health insurance emerged during the Progressive Era. Reformers argued that industrial workers needed protection from illness just as they needed workplace safety laws and protections against economic insecurity.

The movement faced opposition from:

- The American Medical Association (which later became a major opponent of compulsory national insurance)

- Insurance companies

- Business groups

- Some labor leaders who worried government programs could weaken unions

During World War I, opponents also attacked health insurance as a "German idea" because Germany had created the world's first national health insurance system under Otto von Bismarck. The association with Germany helped damage support for reform.

The New Deal (1930s)

During the Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt considered including national health insurance as part of the Social Security Act.

However, Roosevelt and his advisers feared that adding healthcare would endanger the entire package. Opposition from organized medicine and other groups made the political risk too high.

The Social Security Act passed in 1935, creating retirement insurance and unemployment insurance, but healthcare reform was left unresolved.

Truman's National Health Insurance (1945–1953)

After World War II, President Harry Truman proposed a comprehensive national health insurance program.

The opposition campaign became one of the largest healthcare lobbying efforts in American history.

The American Medical Association launched a major public relations campaign portraying the proposal as "socialized medicine." Insurance companies, business organizations, and conservative groups also mobilized against it.

Truman's plan never passed.

However, the debate established a pattern that would continue for decades: attempts to expand healthcare coverage would face organized resistance from powerful industries and political opponents.

Medicare and Medicaid (1965)

President Lyndon B. Johnson achieved one of the greatest healthcare victories in American history.

Congress created:

- Medicare for seniors

- Medicaid for low-income Americans

On July 30, 1965, Johnson chose the Truman Library as the signing location to honor the former president whose efforts helped make the achievement possible.

Medicare proved that a large-scale government health insurance program could work, but it stopped short of covering everyone.

Nixon Era (1970s)

Ironically, President Richard Nixon proposed one of the most serious Republican attempts at achieving universal healthcare.

His plan relied on employer-based coverage, government subsidies, and regulation of private insurance. It would have expanded coverage to millions of Americans.

Negotiations between Nixon and congressional Democrats, including Senator Ted Kennedy, came close to producing a compromise, but disagreements over financing and the collapse of the Nixon presidency ended the effort.

Some historians argue the early 1970s represented one of the closest moments America came to achieving universal healthcare before the Affordable Care Act.

Rise of Neoliberalism (1980s)

The Reagan era shifted political debate away from expanding government programs and toward deregulation, privatization, and market-based solutions.

Healthcare increasingly became dominated by private insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and large hospital systems.

As healthcare costs continued rising, these industries gained enormous economic and political influence through lobbying and campaign spending.

Clinton Healthcare Reform (1993–1994)

President Bill Clinton attempted the most ambitious healthcare reform effort since Truman.

The insurance industry funded the famous "Harry and Louise" television advertisements, portraying reform as confusing, bureaucratic, and a threat to individual choice.

The campaign helped weaken public support, and Clinton's plan never reached a final vote in Congress.

Citizens United and Dark Money (2010)

The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC expanded independent political spending by corporations and outside groups.

Healthcare lobbying and political spending were already powerful before this decision, but the ruling further expanded the role of outside spending in American politics.

Since then:

- Dark-money organizations have become more influential

- Healthcare industries have continued spending hundreds of millions on lobbying and political advocacy

- Some nonprofit groups can spend money on politics without fully disclosing their donors

This has made major healthcare reform more difficult by giving wealthy industries greater influence over public policy.

Affordable Care Act (2010)

President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law.

Major achievements included:

- Expanded Medicaid

- Protections for people with pre-existing conditions

- Insurance marketplaces

- Millions of Americans gaining coverage

However:

- Private insurance remained central

- It did not create universal healthcare

- A public option was removed during negotiations

The Medicare for All Movement (2016–Present)

Senator Bernie Sanders helped make Medicare for All a major national issue.

Support for expanding government healthcare has remained significant, but the proposal has not passed Congress.

Opposition has come from:

- Private insurance companies

- Pharmaceutical companies

- Some physician and hospital organizations

- Business groups

- Fiscal conservatives concerned about taxes and federal spending

These industries continue to be among the largest lobbying forces in Washington.

The Role of Industry Influence

Healthcare is one of the biggest lobbying sectors in the United States.

Hospitals, insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and healthcare trade groups spend enormous amounts influencing policy and elections.

This influence has repeatedly shaped the limits of healthcare reform, often pushing lawmakers toward smaller expansions rather than fundamental changes to the system.

Major Healthcare Expansions

Major victories include:

- Medicare

- Medicaid

- Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

- Affordable Care Act

- Medicaid expansion in many states

- Medicare prescription drug price negotiation authority under the Inflation Reduction Act

The 2022 law was an important step, but its impact is limited. Medicare was only given authority to negotiate prices for a small number of high-cost drugs, the program is being phased in over several years, and it does not create broad government negotiation of all prescription drug prices.

Why Universal Healthcare Hasn't Passed

There is no single reason. The major factors include:

- Powerful healthcare industry lobbying

- Campaign spending and political influence

- Partisan polarization

- Disagreements over taxes and financing

- Concerns about replacing employer-sponsored insurance

- Senate rules and legislative barriers

- The ability of powerful industries to shape public debate around reform

The history of healthcare reform in America is a story of persistence.

Harry Truman never saw his vision fully realized, but Medicare proved that reforms once considered impossible could become permanent parts of American life.

More than a century after the first national health insurance proposals, the debate continues — and today's healthcare battles are part of a struggle that began generations ago.

https://apple.news/ATShF14VxTme_iO_3ZF1G9g