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.@SeemaCMS is literally in charge of administering Medicare. The fact she seems to believe that expanding it would be such a disaster is concerning enough, but let’s examine some of her specific claims. 
Far from breaking the “sacred promise” to seniors, Medicare for All would actually finally fulfill it by providing comprehensive coverage, including dental, vision, and pharma care, and fill the gaps that currently exist in Medicare.
Medicare for All would cost you, your family, businesses, workers, and patients less. Full stop. All credible estimates (including the two she cites here) tell us it would be trillions of dollars cheaper than our current healthcare spending.
This is a particularly grotesque lie. No one would be stripped of coverage. People would finally have comprehensive benefits covered, we’d end the concept of “in network” providers, let people see any doctor they want, and end copays and deductibles. It’s BETTER insurance.
Not to mention, Medicare for All would be significantly different than the VA. Doctors, hospitals, and other providers would still operate independently. While the government would be responsible for financing healthcare, the delivery of care would not change.
There are no market incentives to control healthcare costs. Your health insurance company, pharmaceutical companies, and private hospitals make more money when costs go up. Health insurance companies are financially incentivized to deny claims.
And Medicare advantage has cannibalized traditional Medicare, infusing it with a profit incentive, and selling useless and expensive plans to seniors in order to fill the gaps left by an underfunded program.
The truth is, traditional Medicare operates significantly more efficiently than any private insurer. They don’t have massive claims departments, marketing and sales budgets, or inflated executive salaries. That’s hundreds of billions of dollars in savings a year right there.
The ACA did some of what it was designed to do. It got millions more people coverage. However, it was a market based solution. And like I said before, the market has the wrong incentives, and will never control healthcare costs.
@SeemaCMS spent her entire pre-government career helping states push people off Medicaid, so I guess it shouldn’t be a shock she hates the idea of universal healthcare. I just thought she’d use new lies, instead of the same old ones I came up with for the industry a decade ago.
