Skip to content Skip to footer

“Medicare Part E”: A Framework for Universal Health Care

For universal health care to really be successful, it needs to be done at a national level.

It’s time for universal health care in the US.

More than 100 economic professors from across our country have signed on to a letter, calling for Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin and that state’s legislature to enact universal health care in the Green Mountain State.

Vermont has had plans to implement a universal health care system in that state for some time now, but Gov. Shumlin put those plans on hold late last year, after concerns came up over how the system would be paid for.

See more news and opinion from Thom Hartmann at Truthout here.

In the letter to Shumlin, the professors argue that health care should be provided as a public good, and that financing it actually helps to save money in the long run.

The professors write in part that, “Evidence from around the world demonstrates that publicly financed health care systems result in improved health outcomes, lower costs and greater equity. Public financing is not a matter of raising new money, but of distributing existing payments more equitably and efficiently.”

While the professors make a great point, the fact is that Vermont gave universal health care a great shot. That state tried hard to make it work, and did its best to bring health care to all Vermonters.

But Vermont is a very small state, with a population of just over 626,000 people. And, in a state that small, implementing universal health care is a very hard thing to do.

For universal health care to really be successful, it needs to be done at a national level.

Fortunately, the US already has the framework in place to make universal health care a success. That framework is called Medicare.

A lot of people forget this but, back in July of 1965 when Medicare was established by Congress, it was established with the idea that one day it would be slightly changed to become THE national single-payer health insurance program for the US.

Well, the day to make those changes is now.

Currently, Medicare is made up of four parts: Part A which covers hospital stays, Part B with pays for medical services, Part C which pays for private insurance coverage, and Part D with pays for prescription drugs.

Now, it’s time to create “Medicare Part E,” which would cover every single American. Just let any citizen in the US buy into Medicare.

Best of all, creating “Medicare Part E” would be really easy. It wouldn’t be some complicated process that requires Congress and the government to re-invent the wheel.

All Congress would have to do is pass a simple bill that says any American can buy into Medicare at a rate predetermined by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Department of Health and Human Services.

In would also be pretty easy to get Americans enrolled in universal health care and “Medicare Part E.”

Basically, as soon as legislation is passed approving “Medicare Part E,” the government would begin lowering the eligibility age for Medicare.

Each year, the eligibility age would drop by a decade, letting around 30 million new Americans into the program.

This process would be repeated each year, and within seven years, all Americans are covered by Medicare.

Of course, like with any idea, “Medicare Part E” has its opponents. There are people who just won’t want to be part of it.

Luckily for them, they would still be able to buy private health insurance, and hand over their hard-earned money to billionaire insurance executives.

That’s because universal health care doesn’t mean government-only or even government-run healthcare.

In fact, many of the 32 developed countries in the world that have a universal health care plan in place continue to have both public and private insurance and medical providers.

And, in those countries where universal health care is in place, it’s working wonders.

Take Australia for example.

In Australia, universal health care is guaranteed to all Australians, and the program is working really well.

In 2003, Australia’s death rate from conditions that can be medically treated was a whopping 50 percent less than in the US.

The framework for universal health care in the US is already in place and the resources for it to be successful are readily available. We just have to make it happen.

The United States is the ONLY free-market country in the world without a universal health care system.

Countries with universal nonprofit health care don’t have millions of people struggling to afford health care.

And they don’t have millions of people skipping out on prescriptions because they cost too much money.

From Switzerland to Australia, and Norway to the UK, health care is considered a basic human right.

No one questions the notion that everyone, no matter who they are, is entitled to lifesaving and affordable health care.

When it comes to improving health care in the US, Obamacare has been a great start, but it’s just one piece of the puzzle.

It’s time to enact “Medicare Part E” and ensure that all Americans have access to lifesaving and affordable health care.

We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.

As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.

Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.

As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.

At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.

Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.

You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.