There is a man on the other side of the midway as we say here in U of C, whose name is known in many circles, Judge Posner, and whose theories on medicare are over the top, insane. In a nutshell he believes:

As a matter of economic principle (and I think social justice as well), Medicare should be abolished

Here is the core of his “rosy’ view in which individuals are “free riders’ while corporations and the free market will be able to provide in a way that is just and equitable for those otherwise hardworking Americans.

hen the principal government medical-payment program would be Medicaid, a means-based system of social insurance that is part of the safety net for the indigent. Were Medicare abolished, the nonpoor would finance health care in their old age by buying health insurance when they were young. Insurance companies would sell policies with generous deductible and copayment provisions in order to discourage frivolous expenditures on health care and induce careful shopping among health-care providers. The nonpoor could be required to purchase health insurance in order to prevent them from free riding on family or charitable institutions in the event they needed a medical treatment that they could not afford to pay for. People who had chronic illnesses or other conditions that would deter medical insurers from writing insurance for them at affordable rates might be placed in