tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20077444.post6701760793467326443..comments2024-03-26T04:21:43.535-05:00Comments on Free Association: Has Medicare Extended Life?Sheldon Richmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15672237234580563637noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20077444.post-8449680186462661132009-08-21T07:56:02.419-05:002009-08-21T07:56:02.419-05:00Good post. I was talking to someone the other day...Good post. I was talking to someone the other day and mentioned that I didn't think Medicare and Medicaid should exist, among other things. She was convinced that seniors didn't have health care prior to Medicare. And this is a person who is fairly intelligent in most respects. This is the worst part of statism. Rather than wanting to kill these terrible programs, they become indispensable in the minds of the booboisie ... they can't imagine that we could ever live without them.D. Saul Weinernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20077444.post-6137941042597441572009-08-19T14:47:57.799-05:002009-08-19T14:47:57.799-05:00I guess you're saying that without Medicare, t...I guess you're saying that without Medicare, the slope might have been less steep that previously, flat, or even downward. How likely is that, given what we know about economic progress? It takes a leap of faith to attribute the additional years to Medicare.Sheldon Richmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15672237234580563637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20077444.post-82746721582622086732009-08-19T13:25:13.001-05:002009-08-19T13:25:13.001-05:00Sheldon, we really don't know that for sure. ...Sheldon, we really don't know that for sure. What reason do we have to believe that the slope was going to remain linear in the absence of medicare?MarkZnoreply@blogger.com