The "Greatest Generation" is getting on my nerves a little bit

clipped from www.aarp.org

Senior citizens are ordinarily delightful. They are often founts of wisdom, and some of the funniest folks I've known were upwards of 70 years old. But AARP is little more than a tool of the Democratic Party, in effect.

I ran across a banner similar to the one above over a valued conservative site, with "It's time for health care and financial security for all" right next to it.

On the face of it, this "Divided We Fail" is a call for nationalized health care--and that's probably a very bad idea.
I don't want to say it's a completely bad idea, because I want to at least leave open the possibility that a nationalized plan could be thoroughly rigged with market incentives.

Of course, I don't want to blast the initiative without learning about it first.

We believe all Americans should have access to affordable, quality health care.

We believe...
All Americans should have access to affordable health care, including prescription drugs, and these costs should not burden future generations.
We believe...
Wellness and prevention efforts, including changes in personal behavior such as diet and exercise, should be top national priorities.
We believe...
Americans should have choices when it comes to long-term care - allowing them to maintain their independence at home or in their communities with expanded and affordable financing options

Well, doesn't that sound nice! Let's add "We believe our soldiers should win all wars without any casualties on either side." It's approximately as realistic, though the devil is in the details of "affordable health care."
There's no use complaining about the sentiment--it's a good sentiment.

We believe all Americans should have peace of mind about their future long-term financial security.

We believe...

Our children and grandchildren should have an adequate quality of life when they retire. Social Security must be strengthened without burdening future generations.

We believe...

Workers should be provided with financial incentives to save, should have access to effective retirement plans, and should be able to keep working and contributing to society regardless of age.

We believe...

Americans of all ages should have access to tools to help manage their finances, and save for the future and better, easy to understand information to help them increase their financial literacy and manage their money wisely.

Years ago, a friend of mine had this spontaneous comedy routine about his "Uneducated, Unemployed Party." The platform of the party was to provide education to nobody, and unemployment benefits for everybody. Since nobody would have to work, education was superfluous. This manifesto reminds me a bit too closely of the economic irresponsibility of my friend's joke.

We stand as strong champions for the new American dream -- to build a 21st century America where these issues are paramount so that all people can have the opportunity for a prosperous future. We also believe that individuals, businesses, health care providers, non-profit organizations, and government must work together to find solutions - personally, privately and publicly. We represent tens of millions of Americans and we believe that all of us share a responsibility for making our society work and restoring peace of mind to all Americans.

This is our platform for positive change and our commitment to current and future generations.

Divided We Fail, but together we can do anything.

(AARP.org)

"We can make beans ... into peas!"
If we can do anything, then let's tax all foreigners living abroad--that's about our best chance for putting this plan into effect.

Until we've got inexpensive machines providing health care, this plan doesn't have a snowball's chance.

Why?

Well, think about it. As health care improves, people live longer. As people live longer, the chances increase that they will require multiple episodes of expensive medical care. Not counting retirement benefits, a repeat customer getting nationalized healthcare can, without much trouble, exceed in expense the whole of his contributions into the system. And that's just the Medicare end of the problem. Third-party payment increases the demand for services (supply and demand: decrease the price of the service and you increase the demand for the service). As the population shifts demographically grayer, the percentage of the GDP dedicated to healthcare increases inexorably, which leads to rationing of services.

So, instead of affordable health care for all, you get health care for those the government decides will need it the most, when the government can get around to it.

Does it sound heartless to suggest that the government shouldn't pay for the health services of retired folks? No doubt it does, but the neglected truth is that a free market economy creates the kind of wealth that can spread benefits around widely. A robust free-market economy can sustain high health expenses. Taking healthcare out of the free market economy hampers the economy and contributes t0 the onset of rationed care.

[edit to add]
Where the plan does appeal to private business and individuals to come up with solutions, it has more than a snowball's chance. Individuals are best suited to knowing whether to pay for their own (or a family member's) medical care or not.