The Weaver's Plan to provide Universal Coverage:


  1. 1)   Add two years of people to Medicare to each year until people are being enrolled at their 50th birthday.  Continue to require 40 quarters of work.  Advertise that fact.
    a)   The evidenced based screenings mostly begin at 50yo.  Colonoscopy, mammogram.
    b)   Enroll 65 and 64 year olds this year, next year 64 and 63.  It will take 15 years to get back to 50 yo, but it will be a gradual and absorbable change.
    i)     As current, people can stay on approved employer plans if they prefer.
    ii)   People under 65 might have additional surcharge based on means to help defray costs.  (Pay for Medicare A until they turn 65?)
    2)   Expand the children’s insurance programs to the age of 26 (Maybe do it year by year like Medicare).  Children or employer insured parents can stay on their parent’s plans until then.  Make Tricare keep all dependents on until 26.
    3)   This will, in 15 years, leave us with only 24 uncovered years of the life span.  This is not the endgame, but it reduces the problem to a more manageable portion.

    ·         Paul Ryan must not be allowed to privatize Medicare.  Medicare Part D is worst part of Medicare.  The only thing worse than the government spending your money, is the government giving your money to someone else to make a profit on.
    ·         Medicare has got to have a more limited formulary.  The VA gets a lot of crap but it mostly provides very good care.
    ·         HHS needs to be able to negotiate drug prices.  The R&D excuse is just that.
    ·         Maryland-style regulation of costs.  There needs to be a published price for services, no negotiation by insurance companies and cash patients pay the same cost. (Possibly minus a 10% cash up front fee.)
    ·         Consider expanding the VA.  Cover all federal employees?  Returned Peace Corps Volunteers? Give VA benefits in exchange for a certain # of years of civil service (Something like the WPA?). 
    ·         Rather than having Medicare start after 2 years on disability, give Medicare for 2 years before granting disability.  If folks can get well enough to go back to work, let them pay a % of income to stay on Medicare and support themselves through work?
    ·         Folks on dialysis get Medicare, why not cover diabetics so fewer go on dialysis.  Dialysis is ruinously expensive.
    ·         Virginia has a strong Free Clinic system.  Can some version of this be extended nationwide?

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