On July 30, 1965 When Signed Into Law, Medicare SUCKED.

[WeDidIt]

Yep. It didn't cover nearly enough people. The covereage of those it did cover was nowhere near enough. To put it succinctly, it sucked.

But nobody had done anything like it before. It served as the launching pad for the Medicare we know and love today.

It was a start and we could not have the Medicare we have today without a start.

We've been talking about health care reform since 1912 when Theodore Roosevelt first broached the subject. And that's all we've been doing ever since, talking about starting it. We've never actually started it.

Today, we are closer to an actual start of healthcare reform than this nation has ever been in its history.

As far as I'm concerned, what will be ultimately passed will SUCK!

Yeah, I know that. That's not the point.

The point is, health care reform will actually start for the first time in 97 years.

97 years of talking about starting without ever starting and we'll end up with a sucky bill that does nothing but start reform.

I can accept that because Medicare is younger than I am and in my life I've seen it go from that sucky piece of shit in '65 to the plan that covers my mother. Yes, it's still not perfect, but it's better than what was around twenty-five years ago and that was better than what was around twenty-five years before that (which was, in fact, just talk about starting a medicare program).

I will probably live to see a better state of health care reform. I also know what I live to see will be better still another generation after I've left this world.

That's how our system works. Yes, it's slow. Yes, there are problems, but that's how it has always worked and that's how it will keep working until our system stops talking about starting campaign finance reform and actually starts it, but that's a subject for another thread...

[SPedigrees]

1. Yours is a refreshing voice of sanity. Thank you! eom

[WillieW]

2. I love Medicare and am grateful that is there for seniors. My bills are being paid immediately.

[Zoeisright]

3. I hope you're right.

So do 100,000 Americans who will die in the next five years if it doesn't do something immediately.

[WeDidIt]

8. I am sorry to say, nowhere near enough will be done immediately

As was the case in '65, there are just too many people making too much money off the misery of others for that to happen.

I wish it didn't work this way, but it does. Sadly, people will die because our government will not move quickly enough. That is a fact.

But in twenty years, because we actually started reform now, even more people won't die while Americans are once again desperately waiting for politicians to stop talking about doing something and let healthcare reform start.

[Cleita]

4. I don't know. It saved my parents from destitution. About that time my dad had a heart attack.

He was subsequently dropped from his health insurance. Sound familiar? Medicare was there when he had subsequent heart attacks and other diseases old people get at the end of their lives. My parents would not have been able to pay his medical bills from his social security that they both lived on. So IMHO it didn't suck that much. Medicare is a completely different animal from the corporate friendly plan being offered up today. I don't think this plan will be successful, but it will drag us further into national debt. It's too bad.

[izzybeans]

5. I hope you are right.

My pessimism meter is rising.

K and R'ing for a reminder that after this turd pushes its way out, we can polish it later.

[WeDidIt]

9. We need to make sure the Charlie Cooks of the world eat their words

We need to give Obama another four Democratic Senators and another 15 Democratic Congresspersons on JAnuary 3, 2011.

Then we can polish the turd into a rough hewn diamond.

[MajorChode]

To expect that whatever bill passes won't evolve is a bit naive

However, whatever bill that does pass should be good enough that the program doesn't fall on its face.

[windoe]

6. Great point!! President Obama opened the door for public option to be worked on.

He could have just as easily left it out. Now it is up to us to walk through that door.

[scheming daemons]

7. The same exact thing was true about Social Security in 1935

It was decades before it evolved into what it is today.


The original SS was not much to write home about.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

11. ...And the National School Lunch Program

It's been a work-in-progress for more than sixty years.

As the Big Dawg always says, "Don't let what's perfect be the enemy of what's good."

[lunatica]

10. I think that's the Democratic plan

Sneak it in then just develop it as it grows.

If this is their plan it's a good one.

[hughee99]

15. Which is probably why the repukes will oppose it no matter what concessions are offered

since they expect that whatever they were offered to get it passed can eventually be taken away.

[bvar22]

12. Why start all over with something NEW that sucks?

Just keep expanding something that we KNOW works....Medicare.

[WeDidIt]

17. BEcause Medicare for all wouldn't garner more than 40 votes in the Senate

so it would go crashing down in defeat and we'd spend another generations talking about starting health care reform.

[SeattleGirl]

13. Excellent point, WeDidIt

People forget that you can't start from where you want to be; you have to start from where you are and then move forward.

[Hannah Bell]

14. how so? which people? since we already have it, why not just extend it?

why are we defunding it & starting something new if it's so awesome?

[Duke Newcombe]

16. Thanks for talking me down, somewhat...

I just don't want "suck" to equate with "handing over craploads of our dollars to the same unscrupulous bastards that are screwing people over today, even "for a little while".

[proud patriot]

18. KICK with Force

:kick: