One possibilty in saving Medicare

You did not lose me, you came over load and clear. I watched the debate today and was not impressed with our president elect. I am for the needed stance to take baby steps which seems to be a competitive thing for Obama. But with such a large problem and the magnitude of all that it effects it is just simply to large to take on as a whole. Why this is a truth is because you may have a calculated idea concerning cause and effect but in reality you never know how one part will effect another positively or negatively until implemented and then monitored and anilized.

What is more alarming is this is new ground for all of us we truly do not know if it will make things worse or better although everything seems to point to worse. That is why a more conservative approach is needed with baby steps. Say eliminating the pre-existing condition clause, and allowing insurance to cross state lines to infuse competition and making it more portable would be a excellent and agreed upon by both parties for a start.

Medicare is also in serious trouble for one main reason it is coupled to payroll tax. While the baby boomers are retiring at a torrent rate and with the millions of job's lost Medicare is bleeding out by losing all of those who are no longer paying into the program. So our wise congressman want to cut 500 billion and cause more disparity and strain on the system.

To me the solution is a simple one and would work. Let me framework this idea first. It is the first time in our history that Wall-street actually has been experiencing record profits while Main-street still despairs in our great recession one has always effected the other in the past. What this means is the upper class are maintaining their wealth as the middle class shrinks into poverty this process will implode and devastate our government in the process (i,e, massive debt).

The solution:

De-couple the funding of Medicare from payroll tax it proven not to be sustainable and the statistics grow ever worse. Put a broad-base value-added national sales tax on any non essential products or services. The higher the price of the luxury item or service the higher the percentage of the tax. Truly if I am rich enough to go out and buy a $200,000 car I can afford to pay 23 percent tax. Any foreign luxury item would have an embargo tax to eliminate run away companies. Furthermore eliminating the payroll tax will put more money in everyone's pocket to further help pay for medical needs or insurance.

This is not just targeting the rich but most of the middle class buys luxury items and indulge in many value-added services. I believe this would also put Wall-street and Main-street back into balance when the tax payers children, children as it stands now are going to be paying the bill.

To try and bring this back on topic, it is the hospital and all it's staff that is caught in the middle and it will have a direct effect on quality of care as well as recruitment of new doctors and nurses which both statistically are in shortage and continues to grow. Physician need is also problematic as more and more of the baby boomer generation retire.

One solusion to our Medicare problem

Here is a solution I have come up with that would raise much more revenue to meet the demands and put more money in our pockets right from the start. I would de-couple the financing of Medicare from the payroll tax, since Medicare for Everyone no longer depends on the person being employed; obviously, a cradle to grave system will include many participants during various times in their life when they are not employed. Payroll taxes, then, would not be an appropriate funding source. I would impose a broad-base value-added, or national sales tax, probably with food and some other "necessities" excluded from that tax, to finance the new program. The tax would be imposed on all non-excluded products (and maybe services) purchased in this Country, including imports, so automobiles made overseas by foreign workers that are bought here would have a tax imposed on them with the proceeds going into Medicare for Everyone; however, U.S. products that are exported would NOT have the Medicare tax imposed on them, since they would be purchased overseas. This will help to cut the deficit in our trade balance and discourage "run-away" shops to overseas locations.

This is not a perfect solution but I think it would be much better than what we have and it just might be politically possible to get it passed.

Also to address the Free Enterprise the Government should put a cap on profits gained in all health care related institutions and if they should go over the caps then the money would be feed back into financing our health care. Here is an example; when a hurricane strikes the law goes after anyone that is price gouging. Is this not what is happening in our health care system today PRICE GOUGING!