Maybe I don't understand the health care initiative, or maybe I don't understand medicare enough. But I need to know, why is medicare necessary in a nation with universal health care? Isn't it a waste to have two different organizations that overlap? I realize that universal health care isn't a reality in the United States, but the bill itself cuts medicare, shouldn't it dissolve it completely? I'm not interested in propaganda from the left or right, so if you want to discuss partisan views, please take it to members discussion. I am interested in learning something new about how these two are the same/different.

Which nation do you think has universal health care? Universal Health care is not on the agenda in the US. The US has health services available for a price that means many can't afford it and so various schemes are devised to make it available. Healh Insurance, Medicare and so on. Nations like UK, France, Canada, Australia have universal health care systems where the government pays, at least, the minimum payment needed for a person to have access to health care irrespective of circumstance, the US does not have such a system. Obviously such schemes are provided out of taxation revenue

Because the US has entangled Health Insurance with employment it is difficult to dismantle the various options and have a universal scheme where the government assumes the primary responsibility for payment (public option). Existing coverage for disadvantaged groups must be maintained in the present form because the public option is not available, even if benefits are modified. There is also the question of how to control insurers so that coverage is not lost for various reasons, unemployment, existing condition, state jurisdiction. The US situation is very complex and continued tinkering creates greater complexity. This initiative attempts to provide greater coverage but there are trade-offs

Since I was as lost as the rest of this nation seems to be in all the political rhetoric I found a link that breaks down the bill very nicely.

Affordable Health Care for America Act | EdLabor Journal | Committee on Education and Labor (http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/2009/10/affordable-health-care.shtml)