The Message on Medicare

            The upcoming sequestration will force automatic spending cuts in two large areas of government spending: defense and discretionary spending. While reducing spending might seem a lovely thing, across the board cuts will mean contracting the economy into recession, laying of over a half million people (who will want “benefits”) and reducing government services and capabilities.

            I’m not sorry to see cuts in “defense”. An internal audit under Gates concluded $300 billion in waste, fraud & redundancy. That’s just in the Pentagon. Since 9/11, the  “national security” infrastructure has grown beyond the size of eight Pentagons. Most of these agencies still get blank checks in the name of “security” against Abdul with a bomb in a backpack.

            While these issues may be rant-worthy, the point of this blog concerns the popular consensus on health care. It is clear that Medicare is unsustainable. It is also clear that the People don’t want their Medicare benefits reduced. People want far more government than they are willing to pay for.

            The People don’t want reductions in Social Security or Medicare. Democrats are riding that wave. The People don’t arrive at this position in a partisan manner. They have a longer memory than polls and pundits.

            Social Security was passed in the midst of the Great Depression in 1935. This was the first social safety net at a time when most Americans were falling off the fiscal cliff of the day. When Social Security was passed, less than 5 million Americans had any type of health coverage. Most health care was provided by small town doctors and care was administered in the home. When it was your time to go, you went. The People remember that level of health care.

            Medicare was passed in 1965. At that time, health insurance cost on average $1.65 a month and only 140 million Americans had it. Although medical care had advanced, urbanization made home care less of an option. The sick and elderly were packed off to relatives, much as had been done during the 19th Century. Hospitals were where you went to die. The People remember that level of care.

            Now we have whiz-bang Star Trek super-expensive medicine. An aspirin costs $50 in the emergency room. We can keep Gramps alive whether his brain is working or not. It only costs a bijillion dollars. We have more and more Gramps coming online all the time. Hence the unsustainable part of Medicare.

            I think that what the People are saying is they remember what life was like before Medicare and they’re not willing to live that lifestyle or quality of life. It’s just that simple. So in the sea of conflicting political messages, they’re saying “Find something else to cut. Get your Government hands off my Medicare.” I still love that one. Anyway, I think this is the heart of the message and it might be wise for politicians to reduce costs without reducing care.