McMedicine
The big buzz of the last few days has been around the Republican-endorsed Medicare “overhaul” and how even AARP has gotten behind it. And, frankly, a lot of the talk about the Medicare bill and what it does is starting to sound like the stuff McDonalds is being smacked for in London.
The ASA said McDonald’s argued the advert was “not intended to be a literal and comprehensive statement of all the processes involved”.It accepted the burger giant’s case that it had not used beef tallow in Britain since 1993 and that there was no gluten contamination.
However, the ASA concluded the claim “we peel them, slice them, fry them and that’s it” was misleading and told McDonalds to stop the adverts.
See, we’ve been told again and again that this bill is an “overhaul.” And overhauls are supposed to be good, right? I mean, an “overhaul” is what you do when something doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to. It’s supposed to make things work again. The Merriam Webster definition of “to overhaul” includes “to renovate, revise, or renew thoroughly.” And we all know that renewal is a good thing.
But along with the “overhaul” hype, we’re told that the good thing about this new bill is the way it makes Medicare “competitive” with the private sector. In other words Private organizations like AARP can now afford to “compete” with Medicare. And as we all know, competition is the healthiest thing in the world. It makes our skies cleaner, our women prettier, and our teeth whiter.
So why is it, then, that people are leaving AARP in protest over their support of the bill? Why are seniors having big meetings to discuss how they’ve been sold out?
Perhaps because the sunshine, lollipops and rainbows promised by the Republicans mask a darker agenda?
Along with “competition,” the folks celebrating the Medicare bill like to push “privatization.” Life will be better when all of our goods and services come from private corporations and we don’t have any of these namby-pamby public services any more.
Services like the Postal Service. Because right now, it’s just too convenient to pay thirty-seven cents to mail a letter. I want to be able to pay six bucks and have to drive to an out-of-the-way location to mail a single sheet of paper to my mother.
Medicare is a public service – “competitive” is not a word that should be associated with it. It is a safety net – something that is always supposed to be there for anybody who needs it.
And even thinking on competitive terms, what the overhaul bill sees as “competitive,” others would see as destructive to the system itself. The recently-passed legislation makes Medicare “competitive” by crippling it and forcing it into situations where it won’t be able to provide the service it has in the past. As Trudy Lieberman points out, the meagre benefits promised by the Republicans behind the overhaul will not be worth the ultimate cost of privatization.
It’s simple french fries, really – McDonalds tells Londoners that in order to make their fries, “we peel them, slice them, fry them and that’s it.” But they neglect to mention that the fries are partially fried (usually right here in the U.S. of A.) – sometimes in beef tallow – then shipped overseas after being soaked in dextrose and frozen, then fried once again upon arrival and coated with a liberal dose of salt. And it’s that part of the story that’ll kill you – the bit they don’t tell you when they try to pretend they’ve told you everything.
Like barring Medicare from negotiating lower prices for medicine based on volume – a practice that none of the private companies will be forced to stop.
Or rigging the budget figures to make insolvency almost definite.
Or placing stricter eligibility limits on funds intended to help those who can’t afford premiums, co-payments, or deductibles.
Hey. It’s an overhaul, it’s competitive, and that’s it.