Is Medicare For All too good to be true and too much to ask?

Visualize this:

1. A federally funded Medicare program that doesn’t just begin when you reach a certain age but covers every man, woman, and child in America, regardless of age or physical condition.
2. That Medicare has no deductibles, so Medicare Supplements are unnecessary. All doctors, hospitals, nurses, and other healthcare professionals would be covered.
3. It pays for all approved drugs, 100%.
4. It covers every body part, including teeth (dental), eyes, and brain (psychiatry).
5. It covers all equipment, from crutches to wheelchairs to eyeglasses.
6. It covers all forms of long-term care with no age or dollar limits.
7. It covers all forms of approved preventive medicine, including spas, gyms, fitness centers, exercise equipment, etc.
8. It would be free to all. No healthcare taxes (FICA) would be collected. Companies would not fund employees’ health care insurance.

Further, visualize (correctly) that for the Monetarily Sovereign federal government, money is no object. The federal government can afford anything.

Is that too good to be true?

I thought about that question again when I read an article about Medicaid terminations. Here are some excerpts:

Lawsuit accuses state of ‘illegal’ Medicaid terminations
By Caroline Catherman, Orlando Sentinel

Three Florida residents are suing the state’s Agency For Healthcare Administration and Department of Children and Families, alleging the public health insurance program for low-income and disabled people sent out illegal termination notices.

A class-action lawsuit was filed Tuesday by the National Health Law Program and Florida Health Justice Project on behalf of a mom, her 2-year-old daughter, and a 1-year-old.

The suit alleges that Florida violated the Medicaid Act and the U.S. Constitution’s Due Process Clause by failing to give adequate notification to people losing coverage and failing to give them a shot at appealing.

The Due Process Clause has been interpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court as requiring “prior notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard when an individual is in jeopardy of losing benefits,” according to the National Health Law Program.

Why did Florida terminate the health insurance coverage for some low-income and disabled people? The answer, of course, is “money.”

Some bureaucrats, at the behest of Governor Ron DeSantis, decided that certain low-income and disabled should lead their miserable lives in greater misery so that the state of Florida can save money — money that perhaps could be used for shipping poor migrants to some other state?

But why does the state of Florida need to save healthcare money when the federal government has infinite money? The Feds could pay for the above-described Medicare, so low-income and disabled people wouldn’t need to lack care.

Here’s why:

• • The politicians on both sides of the aisle claim (falsely) that the government’s money supply is limited [Being Monetarily Sovereign, the federal government never unintentionally can run short of its sovereign currency, the U.S. dollar.
  • They claim (falsely) that the federal debt is “unsustainable” and will bankrupt the nation. [The federal government can instantly pay any bills of any size merely by clicking computer keys. It cannot be bankrupt for lack of dollars.]
  • They claim (falsely) that federal spending is funded by federal taxes and that Medicare itself is headed for insolvency. [Because the federal government has the infinite power to create dollars, it neither needs nor uses tax dollars, all of which it destroys upon receipt. As a federal agency, Medicare can run short of money only if the federal government wants it to.]
  • They claim (falsely) that federal spending for Medicare would be the dreaded “socialism.” [All governments spend money, but socialism is government ownership and control, not just spending.]
  • They claim (falsely) that federal deficit spending causes inflation. [Inflation never is caused by federal spending. All inflations are caused by shortages of critical goods and services, more commonly oil and food. Federal spending can cure inflation if used to obtain and distribute scarce goods.]

The federal government and the media have been crying “wolf” (or, in this case, “poverty”) since 1940, calling the federal debt a “ticking time bomb”. Yet, no one seems to notice that it never explodes.

Some people were told they had exceeded income limits but weren’t told Medicaid’s limits or how much DCF determined they made. 

There is no reason for federally funded medical insurance to have income limits. It’s possible to be wealthy while having a low income.

Further, there are all kinds of income, each with different implications for a person’s ability to pay for medical services: Taxable, tax-free, liquid, hidden, deferred.

No public purpose is served by income limits.

The government simply should fund Medicare for everyone rather than creating Byzantine rules that accomplish nothing.

The mom of the 1-year-old named in the suit didn’t realize that the toddler was losing coverage until after her pediatrician told her that her child no longer had health insurance. She didn’t understand how to appeal, the suit states.

There is no reason for an infinitely rich government to put people through such heartache. It should pay everyone’s bills the same way, without “gotcha” rules.

“People don’t know that the reason for termination might be incorrect, that DCF was using the wrong information, or they made a wrong determination.

“They don’t know that they ought to challenge it. 

More than 182,000 Floridians have been issued notices saying they are no longer eligible for coverage since April, after the end of a COVID-era policy that banned states from dropping people from the program for low-income children, families, and young adults, even if they became ineligible.”

It’s ridiculous that the bureaucratically determined “end of COVID” policy should mark the beginning of rules that already have punished 182,000 Floridians and millions of other Americans.

“The scope of terminations in Florida and the State’s knowledge of inadequate notices are certainly egregious.

In a news release, “Unfortunately, similar patterns are happening in states across the country,” said Amanda Avery, senior attorney at the National Health Law Program.

The suit says Florida has known for years that their Medicaid termination notices are flawed.

In a 2018 case study of the state’s termination process, state officials reported “being well aware that notices sent to beneficiaries generate confusion” and that the “current notices that describe applicants as ineligible are considered insufficient explicit in terms of an explanation.”

The lawsuit asks that people who received “unconstitutional” notices regain Medicaid coverage until they are given new notices, with enough information to understand how and if they can appeal, Harmatz said.

Over the last few months, Florida has faced criticism for taking away sick kids’ coverage months before they were scheduled to undergo review, according to the state’s prioritization plan.

Ccatherman@orlandosentinel.com; @CECatherman Twitter

It’s another example of an economically ignorant government, intentionally or not, punishing its poorest, least-able-to-protest citizens.

The solution is a free, comprehensive healthcare insurance coverage for every American paid for by an infinitely wealthy, knowledgeable, compassionate federal government.

It’s not-too-good-to-be-true. It’s just good.

Is that too much to ask?

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

Twitter: @rodgermitchell Search #monetarysovereignty
Facebook: Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

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The Sole Purpose of Government Is to Improve and Protect the Lives of the People.

MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY