Single Payer, or Medicare For All?

I was derided by a single payer health insurance advocate for saying, "Why call it some new-fangled name like 'Single payer'? Why not call it 'Medicare For All'?" After all, that's what Medicare is -- single-payer insurance for old people. Granted, Medicare has some bells and whistles and such that make it something other than "pure" single-payer, such as optional parts, and the fact that it covers disabled people too, but thing is, that's just a distraction. The reality is that everybody knows what Medicare is, while people are often confused and uncertain about what "single-payer" is.

In short, Medicare For All might not be an entirely accurate term to describe single-payer health insurance for all Americans. But from a PR point of view, we're talking pure gold. Who can diss Medicare without having hoards of wrinkly prunes whacking them over their heads with walking sticks and walkers? Is there a single serious politician, anywhere, who would dare vote against Medicare? Well, yeah, there's dozens of Republican politicians who would happily vote against Medicare, but really, the Republican party isn't exactly a serious party anymore. I mean, we're talking about a party whose leaders are Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh, i.e., the intellectual equivalent of gnats. If your party is so shriveled that it relies on morons and big-mouth liars to lead it, it's hard to call your party a serious party...

So anyhow: Yeah, I advocate single-payer health insurance. But I also advocate calling it Medicare For All. Medicare. It's PR gold.

-- Badtux the Health Care Penguin