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Universal Health Coverage in the United States
Those who cry out for “universal health coverage” like other civilized nations
need to look no further than U.S. territories. Critics mention the VA as a corrupt, broken system but at the same time point to Medicare as a shining light.
Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory where 70% of the population is covered by either Medicare or Medicaid. How well is that working out?
The island is bracing for steep funding cuts to federal health care plans that serve nearly 70 percent of the U.S. territory’s 3.5 million people. Local officials have been talking with the federal government about the proposed funding loss, but believe they will be implemented nevertheless.
The cuts will affect the entire U.S., but Puerto Rico is expected to feel them more acutely because the island already receives lower funding levels than the mainland, it has a poverty level higher than any U.S. state and it is already in the midst of an economic crisis and a nearly decade-long recession.
Funding for Puerto Rico’s Medicare Advantage program, serving about 560,000 of the island’s more disadvantaged people, will be slashed by 11 percent in January, a move expected to lead to more expensive copays and the loss of some benefits. More cuts to Medicaid are anticipated over the next two years, affecting about 1.6 million Puerto Ricans like Gonzalez who rely on the funds through Mi Salud, a local government health care plan. - My Way
If Medicare for all isn’t working so well with 3.5 million people how will it work when you have 330 million on Medicare Part E?
#MedicareForAll #MedicarePartE
Source: http://insureblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/universal-health-coverage-in-united.html
