Yes, the thing that many dont understand (and Rush is not explaining this for obvious reasons) is that when people go in a nursing home long term , costs ~ 6K per month here~ 72K per year, 720K over 10 years if they survive that long , that medicare will not pay for it. If they have no assets, or after their assets get used up by the nursing care, medicaid pays that nursing care bill. A good example is a person who gets a bad stroke at 75 (probably millions of them) and cant move without being picked up out of bed.
Did you see the post yesterday that said that Nearly half of Americans say that they definitely or probably couldn’t come up with $2,000 in 30 days??? at Nearly Half of Americans Are ‘Financially Fragile(FR post)’ Think privatization would change them to savers?? Even if they did what would the economic consequences be in the shorter term on a consumption based economy? If we really want people to save why does the Federal Reserve under both parties keep interest rates so low to stimulate consumption and speculation, keeping us in these boom/bust cycles?
There is no happy solution for this, medicaid will break the government and there is NO private option for those people above but an earlier death, and you know no one proposing any reform will talk about anything as unpleasant as that. Those opposing any reform will visualize that in dramatic commercials to get the upper hand in the next election.
You made some really good points about that special election.
If a tree falls in a forest, does it make a sound? If a Republican speaks to a group of reporters, does he make the news?
Take a look at this on nursing homes. It was on our local news.
http://www.wreg.com/wreg-nursinghomeagreement-story,0,4931556.story
Then you have to take into account a lot of seniors don’t need nursing homes, just assisted living, or a visiting LPN once a week, maybe a housekeeper once every 2 weeks to do the heavy stuff. Would be a lot cheaper than a nursing home.
But 0’care guts that.
Here is a question I don't think anybody is asking: How did we survive for 200 years without nursing homes busting the federal budget? I think part of the reason is that families used to take care of their own to a much greater extent than they do now. Families still do that in many cultures.
I can hear you thinking, "We can't go back to those days." But what are we going toward now?