Don’t Touch My Medicare!

Older Americans are the largest demographic group in opposition to health reform. They fear reform will hurt Medicare (it won’t), and thus are turning away from the best interests of their children and grandchildren based on scare tactics and distorted claims from the rightA Fair Comparison

According to Nicholas Kristoff, a New York Times columnist, surveys indicate that 56-60% of the people in Medicare give it a nine or ten on a ten-point scale. Only 40% of those in private plans rate them that high.

It is true that one of the best-performing and most cost effective hospital systems in the country is totally socialized: Those administered by The Veterans Administration.  According to the Rand Corporation, people treated in VA hospitals “received consistently better care across the board, including diagnosis, treatment and follow up…

Veterans are 50% more likely to receive recommended treatment than Americans as a whole… If other health-care providers followed the VA lead, it would be a major step toward improving the quality of care across the US health-care system.”