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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJimmy Carter comes out in favor of Medicare for All
March 26, 2014
President Jimmy Carter: "A Call To Action"
Diane Rehm: Briefly, how do you feel about the Affordable Care Act?
President Jimmy Carter: I was disappointed the way it was done and the complexity that it assumed. Instead of taking a leadership role from the White House and saying, This is what we think is best, they had five different congressional committees do it and it got, I think, the lowest common denominator, which is the most complex system. I would really have favored just the expansion of Medicare to include all ages, rather than just to deal with old people.
Video (38 second clip of quote above; also full 51 minute video):
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-03-26/president-jimmy-carter-call-action
Comment by Don McCanne of PNHP: Characterizing the Affordable Care Act as the lowest common denominator - the most complex system, President Jimmy Carter tells us that he would have favored the expansion of Medicare to include all ages.
Hes right, and heres why. There have been numerous analyses of multiple models of reform. Most of them have included a model that would build on our private insurance system and expand Medicaid, just as is found in the Affordable Care Act. Of these analyses, this is the most expensive model and it falls short on important goals such as universality, equity, administrative efficiency, and affordability.
In contrast, single payer is the least expensive of the effective models and achieves virtually all of the goals of reform. An improved version of Medicare that is expanded to include everyone would be such a model. A health service model - socialized medicine - would also work, but the nation is still too leery of that much government involvement. The popularity of Medicare indicates that this is about the level of government involvement that most would support.
We have to keep reminding Americans that the exchanges are marketing private insurance - not government insurance, so they cannot confuse a government exchange with government insurance. In fact, the exchanges are prohibited from even including a government public option (which wouldnt have worked anyway since the rest of the fragmented, dysfunctional system would have been left in place). Those who defend the private Medicare Advantage plans have to be reminded that they burn up more taxpayer dollars for administration and profits while depriving patients of choice because of their limited networks of providers. Once payment between government Medicare and private Medicare Advantage is equalized, the the private insurers cannot possibly compete with the government program because of their inherent inefficiencies. This was already proven by the failure of the Medicare + Choice plans that preceded Medicare Advantage.
Its too bad that Jimmy Carter didnt start talking about Medicare for all when he was president. It might have been helpful if the public had had a few decades to think about it before we got to the point that legislation could be passed. They could have pressured the politicians to do it right.
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)we would have medicare for all. I think it is POSSIBLE that it would have passed back then. Even the Republicans back then seemed somewhat normal (until Reagan).
eridani
(51,907 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)And we could have had single payer by now. The tea party was not even there in those years and the Republicans that were "normal" are Democrats today so I think it is almost for sure a possibility. Lost opportunities. I don't blame President Carter, but just saying that it could have been...
LuvNewcastle
(16,996 posts)If he had been elected in 2008, he'd be a great President.
Nanjing to Seoul
(2,088 posts)in history. Carter was viewed as an outsider southern boob and it tanked him from day one.
Carter will be treated very kindly by history.
LuvNewcastle
(16,996 posts)I agree, historians will admire him.
Dustlawyer
(10,515 posts)stick by it now. He was working at 6 a.m. every morning while Reagan slept all of the time. He was all about energy conservation and the environment. Now that we are face-to-face with Climate Change we wished that we had listened more to that country bumpkin!
eridani
(51,907 posts)--I think he's easily the best ex-president that the US has ever had in any century. Though I do admire Adams for serving in the House after his presidential term.
Loudly
(2,436 posts)Same problem with health care.
Profit being extracted from the hides of the working class without commensurate benefit.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)cprise
(8,445 posts)What will the Clintons say?
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)thesquanderer
(12,283 posts)and
so he would be justified in making that claim.
Arguably, he is doing now what people are saying they wish Carter had done when he was president... setting the stage for something that will happen 20, 30 years from now.
You have to start somewhere. Do people really think we could have realistically gotten single payer instead of the ACA? With all the lobbying clout the health industries have? And with all the issues that such a massive fast transition would entail? And with all the voter transition fears that Obama--perhaps unfortunately--tried to allay with "if you like your health care plan, you can keep it"?
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)You cannot be "for it" and also take it off the table before there is any discussion. Sorry, he cannot have both those positions. Actions speak louder than words.
yardwork
(63,728 posts)Carter could have embraced universal healthcare at the time. He did not. I didn't agree with the Dems primarying their own sitting president in 1980- it got us Reagan - but it sounds like Carter finally agrees with Kennedy on this. Where was the Dem leadership all these years?
Nanjing to Seoul
(2,088 posts)My favorite singer of all time, Harry Chapin, mentioned him in a live album before singing "remember when the music," which was written about allard lowenstein.
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)and if it was not for that I believe "universal healthcare" would have been a reality maybe in Pres Carter's 2nd term but the tragic event during the hostage situation propelled Reagan for the win. Today, President Carter is considered one of the road scholars of presidents with genuine compassion for his fellow man/women.
He did a interview with Bill Maher several years ago I believe. President Carter is one of the best Presidents the USA ever had.
ReRe
(10,690 posts)The private insurance industry failed. Think how many people have died in the last 40 years as the cost of healthcare went up decade after decade. Capitalism failed, as a matter of fact. Wages went down down down while the cost of living just kept going up up up. And here we are. American dream a thing of the past.
And all this business about "the perfect being the enemy of the good." That's a capitalism cop-out. I'm thrilled that 6 million uninsured have obtained insurance and that ins companies can no longer deny people with pre-existing conditions. But when we started all this, 45 million were without insurance. That means 39 million are still under-insured or uninsured. What about them? We need to make it possible for everyone to obtain healthcare. Not ONE person should go without healthcare or should lose their house and home in order to get it.
Capt. Obvious
(9,002 posts)Rec