Sadly, the key issue that was barely discussed during the Obamacare debate (except here when we proposed lowering the Medicare age to 55 and including small children) was using Medicare as an alternative to subsidizing further private insurance corporations. We were please, therefore, to learn that Rick Weiland - in a tough race for SD Senate seat - thought that Medicare should have been an option for everyone.
Argus Leader, 20013 - Like his Republican opponents, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Rick Weiland thinks the Affordable Care Act is flawed.
But unlike the Republican Senate candidates, who differ largely in the intensity of their desire to repeal the 2010 health care reform law, Weiland is betting voters will endorse a different approach: keeping Obamacare but adding a dash of Medicare to the mix.
Under his proposal, citizens of any age would be allowed to buy into Medicare — which now is generally open only to people 65 and older — as an alternative to private health plans.
“Medicare ought to be given the opportunity to compete by giving people (of all ages) an option ... about whether or not they want to enroll in Medicare or private health insurance,” Weiland said.
Weiland said that if elected, he’ll bring a bill to add a Medicare option into law. The idea is driven in part by his former role as South Dakota’s state director of AARP and a sense that Medicare is a program South Dakotans like and trust.
“People understand Medicare,” Weiland said. “It works, it’s efficient, and all this other stuff that they’re having now to focus on is extremely complicated and they don’t understand it.”
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