In the first Democratic debate, John Delaney made an important point regarding the proposed “Medicare-for-All.” He said that hospital administrators across the board have stated that they would close if all their bills were paid at Medicare rates.
Those of us on Medicare who examine their explanation of benefits believe this. Medicare generally pays 88 cents on the dollar, and the proposal requires all bills to be paid at those rates. That’s why Bernie Sanders can claim that medical costs will be lower. So far, this has been ignored by the media.
At the end of Sunday’s ABC “This Week” program, there was a story about the current crisis in closings of rural hospitals. The ones going under relied primarily on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. Ironically, Sanders was crowing about his proposal on the front end of the show. And yet, nobody connected the dots to ask Sanders if that would be the fate of all hospitals, as Delaney stated.
The failure of the media to follow up on this would be journalist malpractice. If Sanders wins, we may end up with universal health coverage, and little or no places to get it.
