Is Medicare Marxist?

[WillowTree]

Tell me one hospital where an overnight stay is $200.

 

[JakeStarkey]

It's very popular with seniors. These two health programs more popular than ACA

And it allows for dynamic free market competition in the form of Medicare Supplements, Medicare Advantage Plans and Prescription Drug Plans.

Which is why we should all have it.
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After you have all paid into it for 30 years you shall have it. Oh. But you want yours without the hassle of actually paying for it right?

Do you know how the Medicare/Medicare Advantage/Medicare Supplement system works?
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Tell me!

Here ya go.

Maybe you're one of those people who's happy paying higher premiums, co-pays and co-insurance to pay for those who can't afford health insurance, including those whose costs are much higher because they didn't have access to preventive and diagnostic services.

That's up to you, but I don't think it's very smart economics.
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I was right.

Ewe don't have a clue, Willow.

 

[regent]

Wonder why Trump and company do not have a program to eliminate Medicare and Social Security?

 

[MPS777]

Gotta define marxist

That’s the thing, it seems sufficiently ambiguous a term that people tend to give their own definition to it. I had seen some pundit on TV accusing Democrats of being marxists because their policies vaguely aligned with the Marx quote, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”, so I figured it was the idea of ‘wealth redistribution’ that people latch on to. In fact I think quotes from Marx or his disciples are often used as evidence. Any quote (whether real or fake) from Marx or any communist/socialist that relates to some kind of policy, seems to be sufficient to brand that policy as “Marxist”. A quick read on wikipedia’s article on Marxism, in the introduction they have a [sourced] reference stating, “there is now no single definitive Marxist theory”; which I suppose adds to the ambiguity of the interpretation. There are the “10 planks” as an earlier poster mentioned, but those don’t mention healthcare.

 

[regent]

I wonder how many Americans understand the difference between socialism and Marxism? Should schools have been allowed to teach the difference? I took a college class once on Marx and I remember the teacher asking us to put a book cover on the Marx book or the school, and he, would be accused of teaching communism.

 

[NYcarbineer]

To begin, I believe it’s worth noting that “redistributive” government “programs” such as ‘poor laws’ and public education (or even Roman ‘bread and circuses’) predate Karl Marx. But it seems that since Karl Marx’s writings about government/workers seizing control off all private enterprise, a lot of people have equated any redistributive government intervention in social issues as “Marxist”. Now what I’m curious about, is how prevalent this view is amongst people, or if perhaps they draw some kind of philosophical line between what kind of government “program” is Marxist, and what isn’t. So I figured a way to test my curiosity would be to run a poll using the classic government program of Medicare.

Sources I've read assert that on average people draw between 3 and 4.4 times as much value out of the program as they put in. Source:
Did You Really Pay For Your Medicare Benefits?
I think it counts as redistributive in that the gap must be filled somewhere (whether by taxing some people more, or by our grandkids paying the debts). So my poll question is simple really: in your opinion, is Medicare a Marxist program?

Since most of the actual healthcare delivered is from the private sector, the answer is 'hardly'. It is socialist in several aspects.

 

[regent]

Yes. All social programs are commie.

FDR and Woodrow Wilson were both commies.

So all those states that had poor farms and homes for the aged were communistic? So it looks like George Washington allowed states to do that, and therefore old George was a communist.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Yes. All social programs are commie.

FDR and Woodrow Wilson were both commies.

So all those states that had poor farms and homes for the aged were communistic? So it looks like George Washington allowed states to do that, and therefore old George was a communist.

That's why I just put Bootney on ignore: a maroon.