In the almost two years I have been enrolled in Medicare, I have found it to be by far the best medical insurance plan I have ever had. I once said that to my doctor, who replied, “You know, many of us agree.” In fact, in our long – and so far successful – partnership to keep me alive, we went through a mini-crisis several years ago when he stopped accepting Aetna, which was the “gold plan” I was on at the time. He said he was fed up with the onerous paperwork the company demanded, its niggling oversight of his patient care, and what amounted to interference in his medical practice. Ultimately he had to return to the fold because a small group practice is no match for a huge corporate insurer. And as anyone who has to deal with Verizon can attest, just because you are not the government doesn’t mean you can’t be intractably bureaucratic and provide awful service. Moreover, at least for me, Medicare isn't cheap. I pay reasonable but not insignificant monthly premiums for the parts of the system that are not free.

Despite the constant allusions to the horrors of socialized medicine with its death panels asd rationed care, the United States currently spends more on health care than any other country, and the health of its people is no better as a result. The current law under scrutiny by the Supreme Court Nine is the first national effort to seek fair and full access to health care. It’s not perfect, but it’s a long overdue first step.