Voters Beware of Medicare-for-All Sabotage, Advises the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)

TUCSON, Ariz., Nov. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- "Politicians promise to lower costs and assure quality medical care, but voters need to beware," states the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS). Here are some common misconceptions about Medicare for All:

• Myth: Medicare for All would get rid of profiteering insurance companies and thereby save billions. Fact: the "insurance" monoliths would still be there to manage the system. Look at the profits of Medicare Advantage plans and Medicaid managed-care contractors. Their business plan is to deny care.
• Myth: Quality would be assured by government. Fact: "Quality" would be defined by government, based on compliance with population-based guidelines.
• Myth: Government would "negotiate" lower prices. Fact: Government would impose price controls. Cuts of 40 percent to providers have been proposed. Overhead is at least 50 percent of a physician's revenue, and if a practice can't cover its costs, it closes.
• Myth: The system would be like in Western Europe: free, but with great care available when you need it. Fact: Private insurance is available and widely used in Europe. It would be outlawed in Medicare for All. Cost-saving methods in Europe include Britain's Liverpool Care Pathway—dehydrating troublesome patients to death, and expanding euthanasia in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
• Myth: Corporations and the "rich" would pay for it with "modest" tax hikes. Fact: costs of greater than $40 trillion cannot be paid by any available or proposed source of revenue. And of course business costs are paid by the consumer, or the business disappears.
• Myth: Care would be "equal" and "fair." Fact: It is obviously not possible to reduce spending and give more care to the disadvantaged without cutting off care to some who now receive it (such as the elderly).        

"Obama promised—falsely—that if you liked your health plan or your doctor you could keep your doctor or your health plan. With Medicare for All, your insurance plan would be outlawed, and 'your doctor' would be the assigned plan 'provider,' who may have minimal training or experience," states AAPS executive director Jane M. Orient, M.D. "The candidates supporting Medicare for All are preparing to sabotage the voluntary American system of medical care and replace it with a system that will resemble Venezuela, not Denmark."

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties, founded in 1943. Its motto is "omnia pro aegroto," or "all for the patient."

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SOURCE Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS)