The right-wing policy agenda written for a new Donald Trump presidency would “greatly accelerate” efforts to privatize Medicare
Last year, for the first time ever, a majority of Americans eligible for Medicare were on privatized Medicare Advantage plans. If Republicans win the presidential race this year, the push to fully privatize Medicare, the government health insurance program for seniors and people with disabilities, will only intensify.
Conservative operatives have already sketched out what the GOP’s policy agenda would look like in the early days of a new Donald Trump presidency. As Rolling Stone has detailed, the proposed Project 2025 agenda is radically right-wing. One item buried in the 887-page blueprint has attracted little attention thus far, but would have a monumental impact on the health of America’s seniors and the future of one of America’s most popular social programs: a call to “make Medicare Advantage the default enrollment option” for people who are newly eligible for Medicare.
Such a policy would hasten the end of the traditional Medicare program, as well as its foundational premise: that seniors can go to any doctor or provider they choose. The change would be a boon for private health insurers — which generate massive profits and growing portions of their revenues from Medicare Advantage plans — and further consolidate corporate control over the United States health care system.
Healthcare? Probably not. Privitization got us to it current CPU and GPUs though. Price gouging aside, they are quite the spectacle of tech.
So something I’ve been wondering about lately, on one hand capitalism coincides with most modern advancements, but is that a case of cause or just a case of happening to be around at the same time? Especially when capitalism is being propped up by a lot of what is essentially targeted socialism these days.
You are only wondering that because you don’t spend all day dealing with government contracts. It is night and day how slow government can be to adapt. I will name my next ulcer “government”. Work so fucking hard on some of them just trying to inch them forward I want to cry. And no it is not just the US. It is freaken everywhere.
I personally think the free market works best and is best when it is has strict boundaries to play in.
When I came to my employer we made effectively every penny from government contracts. I was one of the people brought on so we could expand into private sector. That was right when the virus happened. In 3 years our private sector stuff hardly even resembles the government stuff internally, same basic functionality. One is advancing and the other is stuck in the early 90s.
Marx once thought that capitalism was needed for industrialization before transitioning to the next stage of human development (socialism), but I think he changed his opinion later.
I personally think there would be much more innovation in a more socialist society with UBI or UBS (universal basic services) because people should generally have more time to get educated and work on risky ideas instead of working on assembly lines for 60+ hours/week just to take care of their families.
Never stop asking those questions.
Was there a point where computer hardware was nationalized? A quick search made it look like it was never a government run monopoly. It was universities and then private