privatizing Medicare

Marta Russell ap888 at lafn.org
Sat Jan 4 10:07:05 PST 2003


AARP has gotten into the business of selling insurance so they may LIKE the idea of privatization. They are one string of advertisements for corporate America after another.

The effort to establish "competitive bidding" for Medicare durable medical goods has resulted in a diminuation of competition and an increase in mergers and acquisitions in the Polk County demonstration project where it was tested. Something like 27 orginal winning bidders have been reduced to 4. Still lawmakers like Pete Stark seem to think that is OK because "competitive bidding" will get them the money for a prescription drug benefit. marta
>
>The most prominent US physician's organization favoring a national
>single-payer system is Physicians for a National Health Program:
>
><http://www.pnhp.org/>
>
>They are, I am sure, watching the situation closely. It remains to be seen
>how much visibility groups like PNHP will be able to achieve in the coming
>battle over Medicare during the new Congressional session. The voice of
>sweet reason tends to be drowned out by the barrage of advertising and
>propaganda, as we saw ten years ago. In the immediate, specific debate over
>Medicare, I think that organized seniors, i.e., AARP, will play a far more
>prominent role in opposition than groups like PNHP.
>
>It is very difficult in the US to have a debate over the deficiencies of
>markets, since it seems to be popularly assumed that they have none.
>
>Jacob Conrad

-- Marta Russell Los Angeles, CA http://www.disweb.org



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