Addendum ...

AH, common sense from a commentator at the NYT's The Opinionator blog today:

1. August 19, 2009
1:47 pm

MEDICARE FROM BIRTH TO DEATH
There is no need to establish a new government authority to handle health insurance,
nor should any new agency be developed. MEDICARE is already the National Health Insurance and should be issued at birth with SS#’s. To pay for this:

All 10 million+ government employees have their taxpayer funded health benefits transferred to MEDICARE, which becomes the National Health Insurance Carrier. An average payment of $12,000. - $30,000. is now being paid per year per person to insure government employees at all levels with taxpayer money going to private carriers.

This should be illegal. We already have a National Health Plan. Why are we allowing all that money to be paid to private health insurance companies? We are talking about $20,000,000,000 ( 20 Billion) would be injected immediately into our MEDICARE system, paying for all uninsured citizens to be on MEDICARE as well. The only administrative thing that needs to be done is to change the current age restriction backward to birth. That can be effected with a stroke of a legislative pen. Existing commercial insurance companies can continue to insure all the major corporations. Employees who receive health benefits in the private sector may use either their MEDICARE or the plan purchased by their employer.

— Richard E. Schiff