Letter to the Editor

Medicare for all: Good or bad?

By Glenn Henricksen, Newburgh
Posted 10/31/19

Question: When is a tax not a tax? Answer: When it is a FICA. Look at your pay stub. You’ll see withholding to pay your federal tax. You’ll see withholding to pay your state tax. And in …

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Letter to the Editor

Medicare for all: Good or bad?

Posted

Question: When is a tax not a tax? Answer: When it is a FICA. Look at your pay stub. You’ll see withholding to pay your federal tax. You’ll see withholding to pay your state tax. And in some cities, withholding to pay city tax. Then there’s a line that says FICA. The means Federal Insurance Contribution Act. These are monies that you will get back – and more – when you retire or are disabled as Social Security payments and Medicare coverage. It’s NOT a tax. It’s an insurance premium that helps you when you need it. To call it a “tax,” even more threatening a “payroll tax,” is an attempt frighten by those who consider that ordinary Americans do not deserve either Social Security or Medicare.

Yes, there are such people. Some have hated Social Security and Medicare from their very beginning. Thus the scare tactics to claim that one’s taxes will go up enormously if “Medicare for all” ever comes to pass. FICA insurance premiums will increase. Not taxes. Company health insurance has a 20% to 50% overhead. That’s to pay the administration their huge salaries and give dividends to stock holders.

The overhead for Medicare is around 3%. Humana, Inc., at one time owned more hospitals than any other company in the world. Then they discovered that medical insurance guaranteed greater profit. They sold all their hospitals and went full time into selling medical insurance. Medicare for all? Not a bad idea.