Republican push to end Obamacare collapses in U.S. Senate

[webfact]

Republican push to end Obamacare collapses in U.S. Senate

By Susan Cornwell

 

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, "we'll let Obamacare fail and then the Democrats are going to come to us," after the Republican healthcare overhaul plan collapsed, late on Monday.

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican efforts to overhaul or repeal Obamacare collapsed in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, dealing a sharp setback to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party's seven-year quest to kill former President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law.

 

The disarray in the Republican-controlled Senate rattled financial markets as it cast doubt on the chances of getting Trump's other domestic policy priorities, such as tax reform, through a divided Congress.

 

Trump said he was disappointed by the failure and suggested he might let the insurance markets created under Obamacare go under and then try to work with Democrats on a rescue.

 

"We're probably in that position where we'll just let Obamacare fail," Trump told reporters at the White House. "We will let Obamacare fail, and then the Democrats are going to come to us."

 

U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell had announced a vote on a straight repeal of Obamacare, which would take effect in two years, after it became clear on Monday night that he did not have enough support to pass an overhaul of the healthcare law.

 

But the new approach unravelled within hours. Moderate Republican Senators Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska quickly announced they would not back repeal. With Democrats united in opposition, Republicans can only afford to lose two votes to pass the measure in the Senate, where they have a slim 52-48 majority.

 

"I do not think that it’s going to be constructive to repeal a law that at this point is so interwoven within our healthcare system and then hope that over the next two years we will come up with some kind of replacement," Collins told reporters.

 

Obamacare has boosted the number of Americans with health insurance through mandates on individuals and employers, and income-based subsidies. About 20 million Americans gained insurance coverage through the law.

 

Republican senators debated over lunch on Tuesday whether to go ahead with the repeal vote, which McConnell said afterward would occur "in the very near future."

 

"This has been a very, very challenging experience for all of us," McConnell said, adding that the chamber needed to move on to issues like tax reform and a spending package to bolster the country's infrastructure.

 

As the healthcare bill collapsed in the Senate, leaders in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives unveiled a budget plan putting a proposed tax code overhaul on the same partisan procedural path that led to the anti-Obamacare initiative’s chaotic downfall.

 

Republicans had hoped to finish with healthcare before an upcoming August recess so they could tackle a wide-ranging rewrite of the U.S. tax code in September. Separate talks on taxes appear unlikely to reach Trump's pledge to reduce the corporate tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent.

 

But their failure exposed the sharp divide within Republicans' own ranks, with moderates concerned the healthcare bill's Medicaid cuts would take insurance away from millions of low-income Americans while conservatives backed the cuts and wanted even more dramatic changes to Obamacare.

 

The U.S. dollar stumbled to a 10-month low against a basket of currencies and U.S. Treasury yields fell after the fresh setback to the healthcare bill raised investors' doubts about Trump's ability to enact tax cuts and infrastructure spending. Reaction in the stock market was muted, and analysts said the expectation for business-friendly legislation out of Washington is all but priced out of the stock market.

 

“The healthcare hurdle pushes everything in Trump’s agenda to 2018,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Wunderlich Securities in New York.

 

"CONGRESS NEEDS TO STEP UP"

 

Trump vowed that the healthcare effort was not dead. In an early morning Twitter message, he said, "We were let down by all of the Democrats and a few Republicans. Most Republicans were loyal, terrific & worked really hard. We will return!"

 

Trump had pushed hard to get a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare through the U.S. House of Representatives in May and celebrated the victory with lawmakers on the White House lawn. But with polls showing the Republican bill was unpopular, he later called it "mean" and did little to convince Republican senators to get a deal. Vice President Mike Pence said Trump had supported the move to vote on a straight repeal of Obamacare.

 

"Inaction is not an option," Pence said at the National Retail Federation Conference in Washington. "Congress needs to step up, Congress needs to do their job, and Congress needs to do their job now."

 

In crafting a replacement, Republicans ran up against Obamacare's growing popularity. A Washington Post-ABC News poll published on Sunday showed Americans preferred it over the Republican alternative by a 2-1 margin.

 

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer urged Republicans to start over and work with Democrats. Democratic Senator Patty Murray, the leading Democrat on the Senate health committee, said in an interview with Reuters that a bipartisan effort could help stabilise insurance markets.

 

She said a bipartisan effort to fund cost-sharing subsidies that help cover premiums, deductibles and other medical expenses for about 7 million people who purchase health insurance on the individual market would "send a strong message to the market" and "create some stabilization that is much needed."

 

Within hours of the bill's failure, Republican U.S. Senate Health Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander said he will set hearings in the next few weeks on how to stabilise the individual insurance markets.

 

Orrin Hatch, the Republican chair of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, said on the Senate floor that the failure could mean Congress will have to bail out insurance markets "probably before the end of 2017."

 

Shelving the current bill means that insurers again face uncertainty about whether the administration will cut off funding for the subsidies that make Obamacare individual plans affordable, putting 2018 coverage and long-term planning at risk.

 

For hospitals, the move relieves the near-term pressure of massive Medicaid reform, but the long-term plan for federal spending for states' Medicaid expansion is now murky.

 

The American Medical Association, which represents doctors, called on Congress to start a bipartisan effort and to stabilise the individual health insurance marketplace.

 

(Writing by John Whitesides; Additional reporting by Caroline Humer in New York and Ginger Gibson, Richard Cowan, Patricia Zengerle in Washington; Editing by Mary Milliken and Leslie Adler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-19

[tomwct]

What the Senate is proposing is keeping the failed ObamaCare Program.  Now that they do not have the votes to pass, it's time to do two things: First, vote on the 2015 Repeal ObamaCare Law and see who backs down and target them for re-election and if that fails, then have a Vote On Repealing ObamaCare Law and let the Law implode over the next two years. President Trump is endorsing these steps as we speak. Oh thirdly, get rid of McConnell, he's part of the Swamp.

Edited July 19, 2017 by tomwct

[darksidedog]

Donald is fixated on getting rid of Obamacare and seems ready to do anything to drag it down, even though 2 to 1 prefer it over the new bill. Thank God there are some in the Senate who actually care enough about the people, not to let the only healthcare option many have, be ripped away. The dollar has plummeted as the markets don't now believe Trump will get anything of significance through, so it seems Donald is actually dragging America down rather than Obamas bill.

[tonray]

"The Art of the Deal" ......"So much Winning" ...."We will have a HealthCare plan so beautiful it will cover everyone"........

 

 

The President was more than willing to take credit if the plan passed but now I see he and his minions are passing the blame off on the Congress 100 %. He is not a leader but a sham artist, the Wall Street Journal finally saw the light yesterday in calling him out, when will the others ?

[maewang99]

Trump is half again 'brighter' than his base.....

which don't rise to a compliment at all.... yet....

even Trump knows today (last night) he has gone down. he is 100% impotent. a sexy and beautiful young wife, even another new one, won't help him at all with that...

but also....

it isn't about Trump, or the broken GOP..... or Clintons... or Obama (that's truly hilarious)...

the USA wants magic.  but ****we**** will get the Reagan Revolution...... in reverse. 60 million Baby Boomers, both sexes paid into FICA and the SE taxing schemes.... entering ****our**** elderly years.. if we are lucky... and last month was the 4th warmest in recorded temperatures... of the last 137 years.... and that's just one way to smell the coffee.... and it's a double expresso...... 

no TV show hero surrogate is gonna save ****us**** boomers. that's why the one that rose from the dead and forgave everyone we have ever loved or known.... on a fully qualified Death of a Surrogate exception..... is the only story left standing. 

for those who only "believe" in magical stories.

not the rest of us. all along. 

I voted for Nader everytime.

and I can and will take to my death... that I am as green or greener than Greenpeace. that's my solace. and it works for me.





 

Edited July 19, 2017 by maewang99

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Everything the Republicans in Congress have been talking about re health care reform was going to be WORSE for the average American than anything that's part of the current ACA system.

 

What's sad and amazing at the same time is that so many Republicans in the House, and almost half of the U.S. Senate, were very willing to boot tens of millions of Americans out of their current health insurance, and substantially raise premiums on the elderly and those with lower incomes.

 

It's because of the crazed anti-Obama propaganda from Fox News over the years and Trump and Co. more recently, perhaps with the help of the Russians, that so many Americans at least used to believe ACA was bad for the country. But now that things have gotten real, it's 2-to-1 in favor of ACA over what the Republicans were planning.

 

Wake up America, and start paying attention to what these proposed laws and regulations would actually do -- not what Trump and Co. and Fox are telling you they'll do. A wonderful health care plan with coverage for everyone????? Just another in the unending stream of B.S.

 

[tonray]

The Health Care revamp was all about 2018 and election promises than providing solutions. If the boobs would have just worked with the other side, all they need is less than 60% of each side of the aisle, leaving the extremists on both parties in the cold, where they should be. Centrist policy for all of America not just 50% of it is the way forward.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

25 minutes ago, tonray said:

The Health Care revamp was all about 2018 and election promises than providing solutions. If the boobs would have just worked with the other side, all they need is less than 60% of each side of the aisle, leaving the extremists on both parties in the cold, where they should be. Centrist policy for all of America not just 50% of it is the way forward.

 

And yet, amid the collapse of their own legislation, Republican leaders in both Houses were showing no indication they planned to now attempt any bipartisan solution via working with the Democrats. It's their one horse, and they're apparently going to continue to ride it alone.

 

[impulse]

1 hour ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Wake up America, and start paying attention to what these proposed laws and regulations would actually do -- not what Trump and Co. and Fox are telling you they'll do. A wonderful health care plan with coverage for everyone????? Just another in the unending stream of B.S.

 

 

If only that were actually possible.  With thousands of pages of legal jargon meant to hide all the pork from the public, it's pretty much impossible for even an informed citizen to know what's what.  Until it bites millions in the ass and enriches others.  

 

But then it's too late to do anything but look to the next election.  Which is how we got Trump in the first place.

 

[yardrunner]

2 hours ago, tonray said:

"The Art of the Deal" ......"So much Winning" ...."We will have a HealthCare plan so beautiful it will cover everyone"........

 

 

The President was more than willing to take credit if the plan passed but now I see he and his minions are passing the blame off on the Congress 100 %. He is not a leader but a sham artist, the Wall Street Journal finally saw the light yesterday in calling him out, when will the others ?

no he is a snake oil salesman

[kamahele]

2 hours ago, tomwct said:

What the Senate is proposing is keeping the failed ObamaCare Program.  Now that they do not have the votes to pass, it's time to do two things: First, vote on the 2015 Repeal ObamaCare Law and see who backs down and target them for re-election and if that fails, then have a Vote On Repealing ObamaCare Law and let the Law implode over the next two years. President Trump is endorsing these steps as we speak. Oh thirdly, get rid of McConnell, he's part of the Swamp.

Why would you recommend repealing the ACA with no plan to replace it and or letting the law "implode"?  This will throw tens of millions of Americans off of health care and people will die. Many Republicans now realize that to be reelected, they cannot repeal the ACA and get reelected. The majority of people on "Obamacare" are lower class, white citizens who do not have a college degree and these folks are Trump's base and voted Republican in the last election. If Republicans vote away their healthcare, do you think they will vote for them in 2018 or 2020? Time for moderate Republicans to join with Democrats to restructure the ACA to reduce the cost to citizens and the government.

[tonray]

3 minutes ago, kamahele said:

Why would you recommend repealing the ACA with no plan to replace it and or letting the law "implode"?  This will throw tens of millions of Americans off of health care and people will die. Many Republicans now realize that to be reelected, they cannot repeal the ACA and get reelected. The majority of people on "Obamacare" are lower class, white citizens who do not have a college degree and these folks are Trump's base and voted Republican in the last election. If Republicans vote away their healthcare, do you think they will vote for them in 2018 or 2020? Time for moderate Republicans to join with Democrats to restructure the ACA to reduce the cost to citizens and the government.

Trumpsters advocate destruction because they have no real plans or ideas on how to properly govern. Destroying what exists is a whole lot easier than architecting a future all can prosper in.

[tonray]

16 minutes ago, yardrunner said:

no he is a snake oil salesman

Yes...but the snakes have petitioned the court for an injunction so as not to tarnish their reputation.

[alanrchase]

Time line

Better and cheaper healthcare for everyone and the government will fund it.

Repeal and replace in week one.

It's easy.

Nobody knew healthcare was complicated.

The house has passed a wonderful bill.

The house bill is mean.

Let Obamacare fail and the Dems will have to pass our bill.

[rudi49jr]

So there's a Republican president, the Republicans have a majority in both House and Senate, and still they can not pass any laws? And these people are running the most powerful country in the world. They couldn't run a kindergarten. Lord have mercy on us all ...

[Jingthing]

4 hours ago, tomwct said:

What the Senate is proposing is keeping the failed ObamaCare Program.  Now that they do not have the votes to pass, it's time to do two things: First, vote on the 2015 Repeal ObamaCare Law and see who backs down and target them for re-election and if that fails, then have a Vote On Repealing ObamaCare Law and let the Law implode over the next two years. President Trump is endorsing these steps as we speak. Oh thirdly, get rid of McConnell, he's part of the Swamp.

They don't have the votes to do that because it turns out a few republican senators aren't totally insane.

[Skywalker69]

Trump's healthcare efforts killed by female senators excluded from all-male policy talks

 

Three female senators excluded from all-male healthcare policy talks appear to have just derailed an attempt by the Republican leadership to put forward a measure that would repeal parts of Obamacare without an immediate replacement. 

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-healthcare-killed-women-female-senators-gop-revenge-collins-murkowski-capito-a7848011.html?cmpid=facebook-post

[tomwct]

1 hour ago, kamahele said:

Why would you recommend repealing the ACA with no plan to replace it and or letting the law "implode"?  This will throw tens of millions of Americans off of health care and people will die. Many Republicans now realize that to be reelected, they cannot repeal the ACA and get reelected. The majority of people on "Obamacare" are lower class, white citizens who do not have a college degree and these folks are Trump's base and voted Republican in the last election. If Republicans vote away their healthcare, do you think they will vote for them in 2018 or 2020? Time for moderate Republicans to join with Democrats to restructure the ACA to reduce the cost to citizens and the government.

It will throw off tens of millions of able non-working Americans off their Free ObamaCare aka MediCare, which they can't use because of $15,000 deductibles. When these people get a job, they will get insurance. ObamaCare is a failure in Socialized Medicine. Anything about Socialism will fail and history proves it. Look at Venezuela. A Socialist is running the country into the ground. He is a trained bus driver, but they now say he is the Richest Person in Venezuela. How did that happen? This Socialist has the luck of a Bangkok Taxi Driver. No, ObamaCare will be gone, if not now, in two years max.

 

[mike324]

22 minutes ago, tomwct said:

It will throw off tens of millions of able non-working Americans off their Free ObamaCare aka MediCare, which they can't use because of $15,000 deductibles. When these people get a job, they will get insurance. ObamaCare is a failure in Socialized Medicine. Anything about Socialism will fail and history proves it. Look at Venezuela. A Socialist is running the country into the ground. He is a trained bus driver, but they now say he is the Richest Person in Venezuela. How did that happen? This Socialist has the luck of a Bangkok Taxi Driver. No, ObamaCare will be gone, if not now, in two years max.

 

Obamacare is not great, but better than what was before. Heck even Obama said its not that great, but if people have anything better, then bring it on the table. With so many great minds, its easier said than done. You can pick facts you want to hear but the truth is that Obamacare has saved lives even though dead beats also benefit from it. Just like Trump yapping his mouth away, but his party can't come up with anything better. So yes Obamacare is still the best option as of now.

[joecoolfrog]

42 minutes ago, tomwct said:

It will throw off tens of millions of able non-working Americans off their Free ObamaCare aka MediCare, which they can't use because of $15,000 deductibles. When these people get a job, they will get insurance. ObamaCare is a failure in Socialized Medicine. Anything about Socialism will fail and history proves it. Look at Venezuela. A Socialist is running the country into the ground. He is a trained bus driver, but they now say he is the Richest Person in Venezuela. How did that happen? This Socialist has the luck of a Bangkok Taxi Driver. No, ObamaCare will be gone, if not now, in two years max.

 

Pretty much every developed country has social healthcare , try to ditch the dogma and grasp reality.

[the guest]

USA, a so-called 'great' nation, that doesn't even have national health service for all. Really is a backward country. Even Cuba has better medical treatment than the good ol' US OF A

[Skywalker69]

19 minutes ago, mike324 said:

Obamacare is not great, but better than what was before. Heck even Obama said its not that great, but if people have anything better, then bring it on the table. With so many great minds, its easier said than done. You can pick facts you want to hear but the truth is that Obamacare has saved lives even though dead beats also benefit from it. Just like Trump yapping his mouth away, but his party can't come up with anything better. So yes Obamacare is still the best option as of now.

How Obamacare Helped Slash Personal Bankruptcy by 50%

 

http://time.com/money/4765443/obamacare-bankruptcy-decline/

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, rudi49jr said:

So there's a Republican president, the Republicans have a majority in both House and Senate, and still they can not pass any laws?

Well actually, they've been passing and enacting a lot of smaller laws -- just not the biggest ones thus far like health care.

 

However, given this sordid group, everyone should really be thankful that they can't seem to do the big ones, because what they're trying to do is BAD!!!

 

The less they can actually enact, the better off the United States is going to be in the long run.

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, tomwct said:

It will throw off tens of millions of able non-working Americans off their Free ObamaCare aka MediCare, which they can't use because of $15,000 deductibles. When these people get a job, they will get insurance. ObamaCare is a failure in Socialized Medicine. Anything about Socialism will fail and history proves it. Look at Venezuela. A Socialist is running the country into the ground. He is a trained bus driver, but they now say he is the Richest Person in Venezuela. How did that happen? This Socialist has the luck of a Bangkok Taxi Driver. No, ObamaCare will be gone, if not now, in two years max.

 

Socialized medicine, usually the single payer system, works well in most of the first world, far better than either ObamaCare or the mess that preceded it.  Single payer delivers better health care at significantly lower cost, but for some reason it's not under consideration here.

 

Having a job in the US does not guarantee having health care, though ObamaCare does improve the odds.  That was one of the complaints against it, it forced employers to provide health care for full time employees. 

 

BTW, your first sentence makes no sense.  Tens of millions of able non-working Americans have free ObamaCare they can't use?  What does that mean, and where do your numbers come from?

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, tomwct said:

It will throw off tens of millions of able non-working Americans off their Free ObamaCare aka MediCare, which they can't use because of $15,000 deductibles. When these people get a job, they will get insurance. ObamaCare is a failure in Socialized Medicine. Anything about Socialism will fail and history proves it. Look at Venezuela. A Socialist is running the country into the ground. He is a trained bus driver, but they now say he is the Richest Person in Venezuela. How did that happen? This Socialist has the luck of a Bangkok Taxi Driver. No, ObamaCare will be gone, if not now, in two years max.

 

Wow.

 

Dude, I suggest you consider getting informed about basic terminology before disseminating your opinions. Without that base, your opinions, ridiculous as they are, are revealed as even more groundless in any reality.

 

"Free Obamacare" -- I suppose you mean expanded Medicaid for very low income that are not poor enough (or a destitute single woman with children) for traditional Medicaid or "rich" enough to make the minimum income to qualify for ACA (Obamacare) subsidies to pay for private insurance (needed for people that don't get it from employers). Those that are paying for ACA plans, even at the highest subsidies, are not getting that coverage for free.

 

Expanded Medicaid was rejected by many republican led states for ideological reasons. The original ACA planned that it would be available in all states, but the supreme court ruled that states could opt out. That in itself greatly weakened the original intent of ACA.

 

In states without expanded Medicaid, the people in the group between traditional Medicaid and highest ACA private plan subsidies are left with no option for coverage whatsoever. Thank the republicans for that nightmare. Not Obama. 

 

ACA is not socialized medicine. 

 

Medicare is only for people over age 65. Medicare is closer to socialized medicine than ACA.

 

Get a job, get health care? That is hardly assured. Under the ACA only large employers (over 50) are required to offer that. A huge portion of the working population works in smaller firms, gig work, contract work, etc. and are not provided any health plan from their employer.  Indeed, the currently rejected republican repeal and replace plans intended to degrade that even further! They proposed to even kill the mandate for LARGE employers!

 

Forget Venezuela for a moment which has been ruined by authoritarian demagogues. Now the USA has it's own authoritarian demagogue. 

 

Look at pretty much every other richer nation in the world other than the USA and discover how they find  a way to provide health care access for all citizens at significantly less cost per person than the USA. The USA has by far the HIGHEST per capita health care cost in the world and yet the absolute POOREST access to it of any more "advanced" nation. So yes, the USA is horribly BACKWARDS on this issue.

Edited July 19, 2017 by Jingthing

[pegman]

1 hour ago, tomwct said:

It will throw off tens of millions of able non-working Americans off their Free ObamaCare aka MediCare, which they can't use because of $15,000 deductibles. When these people get a job, they will get insurance. ObamaCare is a failure in Socialized Medicine. Anything about Socialism will fail and history proves it. Look at Venezuela. A Socialist is running the country into the ground. He is a trained bus driver, but they now say he is the Richest Person in Venezuela. How did that happen? This Socialist has the luck of a Bangkok Taxi Driver. No, ObamaCare will be gone, if not now, in two years max.

 

Who pays for your healthcare?

[pegman]

10 minutes ago, heybruce said:

Socialized medicine, usually the single payer system, works well in most of the first world, far better than either ObamaCare or the mess that preceded it.  Single payer delivers better health care at significantly lower cost, but for some reason it's not under consideration here.

 

Having a job in the US does not guarantee having health care, though ObamaCare does improve the odds.  That was one of the complaints against it, it forced employers to provide health care for full time employees. 

 

BTW, your first sentence makes no sense.  Tens of millions of able non-working Americans have free ObamaCare they can't use?  What does that mean, and where do your numbers come from?

It's called profits over people. The conservative's creed.

[pegman]

19 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Wow.

 

Dude, I suggest you consider getting informed about basic terminology before disseminating your opinions. Without that base, your opinions, ridiculous as they are, are revealed as even more groundless in any reality.

 

"Free Obamacare" -- I suppose you mean expanded Medicaid for very low income that are not poor enough (or a destitute single woman with children) for traditional Medicaid or "rich" enough to make the minimum income to qualify for ACA (Obamacare) subsidies to pay for private insurance (needed for people that don't get it from employers). Those that are paying for ACA plans, even at the highest subsidies, are not getting that coverage for free.

 

Expanded Medicaid was rejected by many republican led states for ideological reasons. The original ACA planned that it would be available in all states, but the supreme court ruled that states could opt out. That in itself greatly weakened the original intent of ACA.

 

ACA is not socialized medicine. 

 

Medicare is only for people over age 65. Medicare is closer to socialized medicine than ACA.

 

Get a job, get health care? That is hardly assured. Under the ACA only large employers (over 50) are required to offer that. A huge portion of the working population works in smaller firms, gig work, contract work, etc. and are not provided any health plan from their employer.  Indeed, the currently rejected republican repeal and replace plans intended to degrade that even further! They proposed to even kill the mandate for LARGE employers!

 

Forget Venezuela for a moment which has been ruined by authoritarian demagogues. Now the USA has it's own authoritarian demagogue. 

 

Look at pretty much every other richer nation in the world other than the USA and discover how they find  a way to provide health care access for all citizens at significantly less cost per person than the USA. The USA has by far the HIGHEST per capita health care cost in the world and yet the absolute POOREST access to it of any more "advanced" nation. So yes, the USA is horribly BACKWARDS on this issue.

Something there as a non-American I don't get. What aspects of Medicare are not socialized medicine?

[pegman]

1 hour ago, Skywalker69 said:

How Obamacare Helped Slash Personal Bankruptcy by 50%

 

http://time.com/money/4765443/obamacare-bankruptcy-decline/

I nominate Obama for the Nobel Prize for Medice.

[Jingthing]

11 minutes ago, pegman said:

Something there as a non-American I don't get. What aspects of Medicare are not socialized medicine?

Medicare is complicated. People generally buy additional plans because the basic coverage isn't fully adequate. Also, technically Medicare is a benefit that you must qualify for by WORK CREDITS over your younger life. So some people reaching age 65 will not be qualified for Medicare because of not enough work credits. Also people using their Medicare coverage will be using any provider that accept their Medicare. So there aren't special government "Medicare" only hospitals. It's not like the U.K. national health.

 

Just scratching the surface of the complexities I'm sure, but for most Americans, they will be getting the basic Medicare coverage at 65. The work credit requirement isn't too severe for most. You can also use your married spouse's credits to qualify. 

Edited July 19, 2017 by Jingthing