Between 1964 (before Medicare) and 1966 (the year when Medicare was fully functioning) there was absolutely no increase in the total number of doctor visit in the U.S.; Americans averaged 4.3 visits per person in 1964 and 4.3 visits per person in 1966.
We have a Medicare plan that functions admirably and should be enlarged to encompass everyone.
Another question raised by respondents to my proposal, the care for indigent or illegal alien populations in rural areas with less propinquity to medical schools, can actually be addressed with same methods now in place; namely, well-performing clinics, functioning under existing Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Finally, among those individuals with new diagnoses when they joined Medicare, lung function testing suggests that they were likely to have had previously measureable obstruction.
We've had a Medicare plan that has functioned admirably and should have been enlarged to encompass everyone -- rich or poor, sick or well.
While the details of a federal insurance plan remain vague, a central question is whether it would function like Medicare — wielding the government's size and clout to essentially dictate the prices it pays for medical care.
"We've concluded that we can best serve small employers by continuing this offline process while we concentrate on both creating a smoothly functioning online experience in the SHOP Marketplace," wrote the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
Programs that fall in the category of "mandatory spending" will function, including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and the U.S. Postal Service will continue to function.
What really matters about this story is not so much that Medicare is, at the moment, leaderless — bureaucracies can function on auto-pilot for a long time, and Medicare hasn't actually had a Senate-confirmed boss since 2006.
Some conservatives insist that more of Medicare's administrative functions should be contracted out to private insurers.
