Interesting idea, but easier said than done. If the government pulls the plug on Medicare, I want all of my contributions back, compounded for all the years they have had them. And I want them to make good with my former employer, who adjusted my retirement policies over many years under the assumption that medicare was going to kick in.
I think it’s not too late to pull the plug on Bush’s recent and very stupid medicare prescription plan. Rational employers continue to offer better, less expensive alternatives in their retirement plans, though no doubt some employers have drunk the koolaid. But getting out from under Medicare is another matter entirely.
That’s the problem with socialist interference. Once done, it’s very difficult to undo. You can’t just stamp your foot and declare it out of existence. It’s like Russia after 70 years of Communism. You can’t easily just start over, with a wrecked economy, a surviving Apparat of KGB agents, and a population mostly stupified by vodka. It’s not easy to fix.
That would be a good start. I'd want my payments for care that were elevated due to cost shifting too.