I think there has been some confusion over what I stated about Medicare. What you said above is true, however, an in hospital stay can be costly. Medicare only pays for 80% of your hospital bills and with today's hospital costs, that can amount to a substantial out of pocket sum. We also have to remember that there are co-pays involved with Medicare out of hospital coverage.
I have secondary health insurance which picks up where Medicare stops. I also have free prescriptions.
Medicare rules and regulations are confusing in themselves that contributes to misunderstanding just how Medicare works. Having my better half working with these rules and regulations certainly helps me understanding Medicare.
True, Medicare Part B, outpatient services, only pays for 80% of the “allowed amount” of service charges. It does not matter how much the service charges, Medicare has a set of allowed amount for every services provided. For example, if the service charge is $200 and the allowed amount is $100, then Medicare pays $80. Most people with Medicare Part B also have Medigap insurance from a commercial insurance company that pays the 20%. The deductible and copays are, well, deducted from the Medicare payment and become patient liability. The Part B deductible in 2020 is $144.60, while most service visit has $20 copay. One of the exception is ER, where copay is $50.
Medicare Part A, inpatient services, covers hospital services and works differently from Part B. While working in the US, you pay for the premium in the form of Medicare tax deduction. Using this service has a $1,500 deductible and no additional copay. Most commercial Medigap policies pay for this deductible. If it does, inpatient services cost nothing for people who has Part A.
I have Medicare Part A, Part B and Part D. The latter one is for prescription drugs, also from a commercial insurance company.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not an advocate of Socialized Medicine. We have a population of over 330 million which is much larger than countries like the UK and Canada. Medicare for all would likely bankrupt our national treasury which is already skating on very thin ice.
Yes, the population in the US is close to five times of the UK. On the other hand, the 2019 US GDP was seven times of the UK GDP, or $21.2T vs. $2.9T.
In my view, healthcare is, or should be part of the human rights like in most countries around world. Most of these are not socialist countries and they call their single payer system national healthcare and other names. It's not a question of money, it is a question of policy.
