pretty words, ugly words: Obama on Healthcare... but, where's the math?

Much of what could be said in this post was already said in the preceding post of December 2008. In fact it was Obama's speech in December 2008 that motivated my December posting, just as it was Obama's newest speechmaking on the subject of healthcare, reported all over the news this Tuesday, that motivated me to this current posting. What is uncanny is that it may has well have been the same speech, as it is the very same wrong ideas that President Obama puts forth as meaningful fact. Would someone righteous, whose mouth has access to his ears, please, speak to him and alert him to Medicare reality, before he adds even more insult to congressional injury, hell bent towards destroying the Medicare Advantage Plan?

Let's start with a little mathematics:

(Case 1) Suppose Medicare Advantage Plans provide approximately the same coverage as Traditional Medicare at approximately the same cost; then, why not allow the Beneficiary the choice? After all, there would be no net financial loss or gain.

(Case 2) Suppose Medicare Advantage Plans provide approximately the same coverage as Traditional Medicare at a somewhat higher cost, say 10-20% (this is generally said to be true); then, is that savings of 10-20%, allegedly to be recouped by eliminating Advantage Plans, even close to being enough money's to provide universal healthcare? Clearly not! And it must be pointed out that, if the Advantage Plans were more proactively and more cooperatively marketed by the private and public sectors together and in harmony, then economies of scale would likely bring the Medicare Advantage Plan to an economical comparison to Traditional Medicare. (This of course pre-supposes that present accounting is nor overly skewed in one direction or the other to reflect bias pro or con the Advantage Plan.)

(Case 3) Suppose current accounting ignores the profound benefit of MOOP coverage to the Advantage Plan Beneficiary, that has no equal counterpart in the Traditional Medicare coverage? It is true that at additional cost the Traditional Medicare Beneficiary can purchase a Medicare Supplement Policy from private industry -- if he or she can afford the premium payments and not lapse the coverage. But, just comparing Medicare Advantage Plan Beneficiary to Traditional Medicare Beneficiary absent the Med-Sup Policy, the Traditional Medicare Beneficiary is at far greater risk to lose home and bank account as a result of catastrophic medical expense. Given the spate of foreclosures in the past decade, there must be a significant percentage of those overall statistics, that belong to Medicare Beneficiaries suffering medically caused financial crises -- unnecessary, had they only been advised to enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan. Now, extend that idea across the nation, keeping in mind that universal health care coverage could include MOOP coverage for everyone, protecting homes and bank accounts everywhere!

It is an utter illusion to think that gutting the Medicare Advantage Plan will do anything to improve national health care or to reduce the overall expense of health care, if at all; and the effect of gutting the Medicare Advantage Plan is likely to have the opposite effect by destroying the working model that actually could provide the nation with a universal health care Plan that integrates the private and public sectors, achieves great economies of scale, and separates ordinary medical care finance from the workplace, potentially unsticking the economy from the enslavement of employer and employee to health care insurance bondage. After all, isn't it true that most people work at jobs they hate, living "someone else's life", sick of their jobs, and sick from their jobs -- all in order to be able to count on having healthcare coverage from their job? "My job makes me sick; but, I need the health care coverage...."