Dear America: I hate to say "I told you so." But I told you so.
I said, waaaaaaay back in 2010, that anyone who wants Medicare coverage should be able to buy it. I was right. And I'm still right.
If you agree, then congratulations -- you're right, too.
Think about it: Has anyone ever complained about being canceled by Medicare? No.
Has anyone ever complained that the Medicare website crashed? No.
Has anyone ever complained that Medicare refused him coverage? No.
Has anyone ever complained that Medicare cut him off when his care got too expensive? No.
Has anyone ever whined that Medicare is socialism? Well, yes. In 1961, Ronald Reagan said that Medicare would bring on a socialist dictatorship. As if.
The real problem that we have is not that some website doesn't work. The real problem is not that Obamacare somehow is compelling employers to drop health coverage (because it's not). The real problem is not that some insurance companies are canceling some policies -- when has that ever not happened?
Here are the real problems:
1. A lot of Americans can't afford health insurance.
2. In many areas of the country, the health insurance companies and the hospitals are monopolies or duopolies, and they control the market.
3. The health insurance companies charge as much as they can, they provide as little care as they can get away with, and they call the difference "profit." They have a conflict of interest with you. They make more money by denying you the care that you need to stay healthy, or even alive.
But there is a solution to these problems. In fact, some Americans have an excellent healthcare system, which is overwhelmingly popular. It provides care from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Key West, Florida, and from sea to shining sea. It's cheap and efficient -- 97 percent of the cost goes directly into providing care. We've invested billions of dollars to make it comprehensive and universal. You may have heard of this healthcare system -- it's called "Medicare."
And, weirdly, we open it only to seniors and the disabled. It's as if we were to say that the minimum age to drive on interstate highways were 65 years old. It's as if we were to say that only seniors could go to public school.
What would it cost for everyone else? I'm glad you asked. According to the experts, for full coverage, including the prescription drug benefit, Medicare would cost barely $100 a month for children, and less than $500 a month for people in their sixties. Which is much less than my coverage costs -- and, I would venture to say, probably yours, too (unless you're on it already).
Which is why, back in 2010, I introduced a simple, four-page bill, the 'Medicare You Can Buy Into Act.' The bill allows Americans to buy into Medicare at cost. If you want Medicare, and you pay for it, you've got it. Period. End of story.
I signed up more than 80 co-sponsors in the House, in two weeks.
Poll after poll found that a "public option" like this was very popular with the public, too. Politifact did a survey of surveys, and found that in 28 polls, the average result was 57 percent in favor, and 38 percent against -- despite massive negative propaganda spewed out by the Chamber of Commerce.
Unfortunately, the Affordable Care Act passed without a Medicare buy-in, or any public option. King Lieberman (D-Aetna) vetoed it. That kept private insurance companies exclusively in charge of health coverage for people under 65. We can all see how well that's turned out. These large and profitable corporations have cancelled policies and raised rates at will. They are demanding the power to continue to discriminate against women, to deny coverage to people with existing illnesses, and to pull the plug -- literally -- on anyone whose coverage becomes too expensive.
And is it really their fault? "No one can serve two masters." (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13.) We are asking the health insurance companies to serve two masters: patients, and profit. They can't do it. No one can.
But the health insurance companies have demonstrated that they are good at one thing -- fooling voters. They spent $2 million against me in 2010 in the Great Democratic Apocalypse, and they got rid of me.
Temporarily. And now, I'm back.
So after I won reelection last year, one of the first bills that I introduced was that same old four-page bill, the 'Medicare You Can Buy Into Act' (H.R. 500). Because we need it. Me and you. We need it.
If we open up Medicare to everyone who can pay for it, private insurance premiums will drop, because health insurance companies with local monopolies will face much-needed competition. And, to compete, those companies will have to offer better policies -- policies with more comprehensive coverage, with a broader network, and better service.
Now that's what I call true health care reform. That's what I'm talking about.
We want a public option. We need a public option. And that public option already exists -- we just need to open it up, to all Americans.
Here is our cheer: "I want Medicare. You want Medicare. We all want Medicare."
Let's make it happen. Sign the petition today: WeWantMedicare.com.
It is never too late to do the right thing.
L'chaim - To Life,
Rep. Alan Grayson
"The greatest wealth is health." - Virgil
P.S. Since lobbyists own Washington, D.C., only a movement, a committed corps of can-do citizens, can achieve a public option. If you want to be part of that movement, then you need to demand a public option, and ask your friends, family and co-workers to do the same. Start by sharing this with your friends by e-mail, and on Facebook and Twitter.