Medicare for None: A Fantasy Pulled from the Farthest Corners of the Left
‘The last thing American families need is even more top-down, one-size-fits-all social engineering. We need to take practical steps to address what really matters most to American families -- health care costs. We need to preserve what works, fix what doesn’t, bring costs down, and preserve Medicare. That’s the sensible approach that American families deserve. That’s the practical, solutions-oriented approach that Republicans are committed to.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding bills from Washington Democrats that would force all Americans into a government-run healthcare system:
“Lest there be any doubt that my Democratic colleagues here in Congress are serious about their party’s radical left turn, the House Rules Committee is actually holding a hearing today on their proposal to outlaw private health insurance and force every American into a new government-run system. As I’ve said, this grand scheme ought to be called ‘Medicare for None.’
“Democrats want to drain the popular program that seniors have relied on for more than fifty years and slap its name on a brand-new, untried, untested government-run system. And this thing they’ve cooked up would become the only option available to American families. Democrats are so confident Americans will love their one-size-fits-all government plan that they feel the need to ban the private sector from competing with it. This is a fantasy pulled from the farthest corners of the left. But now, leading Democrats are proudly embracing it. Here’s the chairman of the House Rules Committee: Quote, ‘It’s a serious proposal that deserves serious consideration.’
“Well, it certainly is a serious proposal for the more than 180 million Americans who would be unceremoniously kicked off their private insurance plans. It certainly is a serious proposal for the tens of millions of Americans who have paid into Medicare so it would actually be there now, when they need it – not distorted into something totally different. This is a particularly important point given the serious challenges that Medicare is already facing. The Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently explained, quote, ‘the program’s main trust fund for hospital services can only pay full benefits for seven more years.’
“And she noted the particular irony that this sobering ‘dose of reality’ is being delivered even as ‘some are calling for a complete government takeover of the American healthcare system.’ On our current trajectory, as soon as seven years from now in 2026 – quote – ‘doctors, hospitals, and nursing homes would not receive their full compensation from the program and patients could face more of the financial burden.’ That’s from the New York Times. In other words, this is a time for shoring up the existing health insurance that our seniors like and rely on. Not a time to risk it all by packing millions and millions more – the whole rest of the nation – into that very system for the sake of a snappy campaign promise.
“The last time Democrats had unified control of the House, the Senate, and the White House, of course, they implemented sweeping changes that the American people were assured would keep health care costs down. Lots of promises were made. And lots of promises were broken. Many families are now saddled with sky-high premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs. Not to mention dwindling choices. And now Democrats are back for another, even bigger bite at the apple.
“The last thing American families need is even more top-down, one-size-fits-all social engineering. We need to take practical steps to address what really matters most to American families -- health care costs. We need to preserve what works, fix what doesn’t, bring costs down, and preserve Medicare. That’s the sensible approach that American families deserve. That’s the practical, solutions-oriented approach that Republicans are committed to. But, as we’re already seeing across the Capitol this week, our Democratic friends want to wheel out the drawing board yet again, and take another big whack at the health plans Americans rely on.”
Related Issues: Health Care
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