WHEN PENGUINS FLEW AND WATER BURNED This is the true memoir of one US Air Force navigator’s journey from the schoolhouses of Air Training Command to the nuclear alerts of the Cold War to combat in a 35-year-old anachronism called the B-52. It is a first-hand account of life during the last days of Strategic Air Command, the early days of Air Combat Command and the ensuing military drawdown of the 1990s. From peacetime training exercises across the globe to combat operations in Desert Storm, Jim Clonts takes the reader inside the cockpit where life and death are seconds apart. Often comical, sometimes heart-pounding, other times tragic, WHEN PENGUINS FLEW AND WATER BURNED takes you into the world of military aviation, a crucible where warriors learn the true nature of character, conscience and mortality.

Friends of Liberty VOL 43
by Jim Clonts, 2010

03/02/2010

Medicare Costs Us Twice

Medicare was created to ensure healthcare costs would not adversely impact senior citizens, people who are generally on fixed income. The idea was we'd all pay into Medicare, through taxation of our earnings, then the Government would pay for healthcare services for senior citizens using these funds. Since Government programs do not have to worry about profits, the basic assumption was Medicare would be cheaper than private sector healthcare. This is what we're also told about Government-run public option healthcare. Remove the evil profits from the equation and costs have to go down. Right?

In fact, Medicare is costing you more than you know. While the dollars stripped from your paycheck each week are easily seen and understood, you are also getting fleeced elsewhere and may not even be aware of it. A friend of mine explained the problem with Medicare to me:

When a doctor takes a Medicare patient, they have to agree to the terms of Medicare. Essentially, the terms are text book Mafia. "You get what you get if and when we decide you get it." What this routinely means is a Medicare patient will see a doctor for some ailment. The doctor will bill Medicare for his or her services. Six months to a year later a check will arrive from Medicare covering roughly 25-35% of what the doctor billed. One patient broke a finger and needed a $12 splint. Medicare reimbursed the doctor $4 for the splint.

Now the laymen might say, "How is this costing me more? Medicare is paying out less than the billing. If Medicare covered the whole billing for all Medicare patients, wouldn't our taxes have to go up?" Yes, they would. The dirty little secret is that all funds absconded from the taxpayers for this program only cover a fraction of the true costs of medical care for seniors. The irony here is that even reimbursing at this low rate, Medicare is still going broke with trillions of dollars of unfunded commitments over the next decade.

Okay. So how does this affect you? Doctors have payrolls to meet, capital equipment to purchase and maintain, supplies, facilities and utilities to pay for, and massive malpractice insurance premiums and legal costs. Do you believe that doctors who take Medicare patients can run a loss of 67% on those patients? The bottom line is the medical community makes up the losses on those who can pay, those who have private insurance. The costs are inflated to cover operating expenses not paid by Medicare.

Recently in California, Wellpoint, an insurance company, increased their premiums by 39%. They were crucified in the press and on Capitol Hill for taking advantage of the sick. The CEO of Wellpoint explained that with the recession many people are losing their jobs and losing their private insurance. These people go on MediCal, a California state program. Since MediCal does not cover half the true costs, doctors and hospitals have passed these costs onto private insurance. Private insurance premiums have to rise to cover what the Government won't. This is happening nationally with Medicare and Medicaid.

The American taxpayer is paying into the Medicare program and paying higher health insurance premiums to cover services to seniors not fully covered by Medicare. Make no mistake about it. This is a strategy to get the private sector to pay for things the Government is advertised as paying for all the while making you angry at your health insurance companies for jacking up your premiums. While Medicare is called a success in the Media, private healthcare, who carries the load for Medicare (and Medicaid), is vilified as evil profit-seekers. Polls show Medicare is one of the most beloved and popular Government programs by the people who benefit from it. This is no surprise. People will always love a program that pays for their needs at no cost to them. The seniors who use Medicare believe they are just getting back the dollars they've paid in taxes over the years, not realizing what they've contributed barely covers a third of the costs.

I'm really surprised the Medicare reimbursement hasn't gone to zero and doctors just told to suck it up. Venzuela requires doctors to perform a significant percentage of their practice pro bono (free). If it weren't for private insurance companies and those paying into them, doctors here would face the same thing here.

Oh---right---that's still coming...

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