Medicare For All

Medicare may appear as a one size fits all fix, but its parctical implications may indicate otherwise.

Even long before the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicare has always been a necessity, and having free access to it has always been an active demand from most of the population. However, some would argue that free access to Medicare may not be the blessing it may appear to be.

First of all, one of the main roadblocks which faces free access to Medicare is the ongoing privatization of the healthcare sector. In countries such as the United States of America, the health sector has been increasingly relying on private companies to fulfill its needs in terms of medication production and equipment since the 1970s, the grip these companies have on public access to Medicare has led to a deterioration in the quality provided by healthcare professionals. As a result, these private companies have reached a level of influence that they can now affect the amount of government financing that goes into Medicare.

On the other hand, there is an ongoing argument against free access to Medicare, (some even went as far as to deem that the issue may lead to catastrophic results), which tackles the issue on multiple fronts for not being as effective as it may seem. More to the point, it may appear as though it would be economically beneficial, yet a study conducted by the Dartmouth group documented widespread geographic disparity in Medicare spending that is unexplained by income, or illness severity.

To sum up, free access to Medicare may be a good idea and its implications may lead many to believe that there could be no downside to it, nonetheless, its real-life application may fall short due to many issues including, but not limited to, economic roadblocks and government legislations.