This is MY experiences and MY take on this.
1. The biggest problem is the lack of knowledge that Medicad is available to a large group of people an they don't even know it. In Minnesota, your eligibility is based on 1. if you can get insurance from your employer and 2. your income and 3. if you have dependents under 18. You are not eligible if you can get insurance through your employer, but if eligible, you will have a monthly premium which is based off of your income. Some will pay nothing under this model. Some are just to lazy to do the required paperwork to get insured. Language is not an issue as the instructions and forms are provided in just about any needed.
2. The only problem that I had was in 2008, I ended up heading to emergency for a problem that had slowly cropped up. I was losing feeling in all parts of my body and was getting to the point where I could barely walk. I want to hospital A (that is what I will call it), watched the whole Monday Night Football game in the waiting room before seeing a Dr. Once in the treatment room, the Dr did not even touch me and prescribed 2 prescriptions and told me to see my family physician. I made an appointment for the following Monday but ended up trying a different hospital because I had a bad fall (hospital B), and was on a gurney and in a treatment room in less than 2 minutes of entering their doors. The difference was hospital A took my insurance info before treatment and knew I was on Medicad while hospital B treated me regardless of whether I had insurance or not.
While I have had a generally good experience with Medicad, I can see the argument about the quality of treatment while on a government provided insurance plan. I have talked to a few other people who have had the same experiences with hospital A. This leads me to believe that my treatment there was not isolated to me. That is the only hard evidence I have and I will never go to hospital A again.
I think a form of Obamacare can work if done properly. I am now on Medicare and this is good insurance. It is not free like so many think, I pay just over $200 a month and is well worth it. And I get tired of these politicians calling it an entitlement. I have paid into this my whole life. I feel a true entitlement is the full retirement these Senators get for just one term in office.
Don't get me wrong, I do understand that Medicare needs to get fixed and get rid of all the waste, but with politics the way they are I don't see this happening any time soon.
