Howard Dean suggests allowing people under 65 to sign up for medicare. Seems simple enough. Figure out an appropriate premium, supplement those who need it. People who hate the idea of government-run care can have their insurance, and people who are okay with it can sign up. It'd be an interesting experiment, at the very least: a real handle on the extent to which the town-hall teabaggers and those who show up packing heat represent the sense of the populace.
I realize it's just a simpler way of setting up a "public option." I understand the concerns about cost. But with premiums thirty percent lower than private insurance, you'd still be able to pay as you go, assuming the lower overhead and lack of money going for insurer profits. And if fiscally conservative Republicans could actually start behaving that way, you'd think they'd be okay with a plan to find savings by looking at what works. You know: death panels.
Funny, huh? Conservatives hate government, hate socialism, hate medicare. And scream bloody murder (literally) at the merest mention of controlling its costs.
Meanwhile, I really hope Dr. Dean's idea comes to fruition. I wanna see how many of those crazies stand on whatever principles they think they're espousing and refuse better care at lower cost.
