Health Insurance is NOT Health Care: Why Medicare for All is the Only Cure

For over a decade, we've watched as the political posturing and partisan bickering in Washington have failed to deliver on a fundamental American promise: health care for all.

Even 15 years after the passage of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), a consensus point remains stubbornly true for both Democrats and Republicans: Health insurance is not health care. You can have the best plan in the world, but if the deductible is crippling, the network is non-existent, or the claim is arbitrarily denied, it's just a stack of papers and a premium payment.

The Roadblock Isn't Care, It's Bureaucracy

We are no closer to universal care today than we were when the debate first began. Why? Because the current system is fundamentally designed to prioritize profit and paperwork over people and wellness.

The solutions championed by leaders like Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Pramila Jayapal—the Medicare for All approach—cut straight to the heart of the problem.

The major drawback of Medicare for All, as far as its opponents are concerned, is the system’s biggest strength: it slashes the bureaucracy and inefficiencies of private insurance companies.

Think about the absurdity of our current system:

• You get a bill from your doctor: It goes through an insurance company.

• The insurance company debates: Do they want to pay for it?

• The doctor's office fights: They spend valuable time and resources appealing the denial.

• The patient waits: They get caught in the middle, stressed, and often forgo necessary care because of the potential financial burden.

This entire process—the endless phone calls, the mountains of medical codes, the armies of insurance adjusters, the constant fear of a surprise bill—is pure, wasteful, administrative drag. It’s a mechanism designed to ration care and maximize corporate profit, often at the whim of an anonymous claims processor.

The True Efficiency: Simplified Care

Medicare for All replaces this fragmented, inefficient nightmare with a single, simplified, non-profit system.

Current System (Private Insurance)	Medicare for All (Proposed)
Goal: Maximize profit for shareholders.	Goal: Maximize patient health outcomes.
Complexity: 1000s of different plans, deductibles, and networks.	Simplicity: One comprehensive plan for everyone.
Bureaucracy: Massive administrative costs for billing, appeals, and denials.	Efficiency: Simplified billing, reduced administrative overhead.
Access: Varies wildly based on employer, income, and pre-existing conditions.	Access: Guaranteed universal coverage for all citizens.

The money currently spent on insurance company CEO salaries, marketing budgets, and bureaucratic denial processes would be re-routed to where it belongs: direct patient care and investment in public health infrastructure.

Health Care is a Right, Not a Commodity

If we, as a nation, agree that health insurance is just a middleman—a costly, often predatory barrier—then it is time to eliminate that barrier.

Medicare for All isn't just about saving money (though it would save billions); it's about a moral commitment. It says that no American should ever go bankrupt because they got sick. It says that a doctor, not an insurance company, should decide the care you receive.

It’s time to stop the posing and the posturing. It's time to stop confusing a financial product (insurance) with a human necessity (care).

The answer has been clear for years: Medicare for All is the single, most direct path to finally achieving health care for all.

What do you think? Are you ready to cut the bureaucratic red tape and establish health care as a right?