States should not fund Medicare
President Trump said the federal government should not be paying for Medicaid, Medicare, daycare and “all these individual things.” The states should raise taxes and pay for them.
How would that work for Medicare? Would each state impose their own Medicare tax? If someone from New Jersey decided to retire and move to New Hampshire, would New Hampshire pay their Medicare bills or would we hope New Jersey would pay? If a retiree from New Hampshire moved to Florida, could they expect New Hampshire to pay the bills? What about those who moved from state to state during their careers?
Is each state going to decide what procedures it will and will not cover? What about drug coverage?
The federal government is able to pay very low rates for medical procedures because they represent almost everyone over the age of 65. If Medicare becomes 50 different states’ plans, do you think New Hampshire could negotiate rates comparable to the current system?
Trump said the only thing the federal government should be paying for is the military. Do you really want your state to pay the full cost of education, disasters, health care, roads and bridges? I don’t. And I don’t want a federal government that feels compelled to start wars to justify the taxes it is collecting.