One of my favorite movies is White Christmas, which starred Bing Crosby and Rose Mary Clooney. In one scene, Rose Mary Clooney’s character sings a song in a nightclub about her unhappiness with Bing Crosby’s character. She sings, “Love, you didn’t do right by me … you planned romance that just hadn’t a chance, and I am through.”

In a fashion similar to that Irving Berlin song, after years of touting private health insurance by helping to create the Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa (HAWK-I) — Iowa’s CHIP program, and working with CoOportunity Health — Iowa’s health-care co-op that went bankrupt, I have come to the conclusion that the private health-insurance market under the Affordable Care Act (known as the ACA or Obamacare) has not done “right by me.” More importantly, it has not “done right”  the citizens of the country. For reasons that I will clarify later, I now support expanding Medicare to individuals 55 years of age in a graduated, voluntary enrollment process.

First, we must examine the current insurance market. It is drowning under 20 to 40 percent annual premium increases, outrageous and morally reprehensible drug prices, poor insurance enrollment, deductibles ranging from $6,000 to $10,000 and sometimes more that make having insurance still mean not having access to affordable health care, a significant number of private insurers leaving the Exchanges, and more than 20 states that have not accepted Medicaid expansion, even though it would not cost state governments. Overall, millions of Americans endure not having health-care access because they have no insurance, have no Medicaid, or are underinsured, which is the equivalent of having no health insurance.

I fully acknowledge the more than 20 million Americans who have health-care access under the ACA ,and I am thankful for that. I also believe that, under different circumstances, Congress would have made technical changes that would have improved the ACA in meaningful ways. One of the most significant changes to the ACA made by Congress was withholding money destined to help sustain health-care co-ops like CoOportunity Health. The non-co-op private insurers instigated that theft. That was another “did me wrong” moment.

My proposal is that Medicare allow individuals from 60 to 65 years of age to buy into the Medicare system with premiums determined by income based on a sliding scale and no premiums for Medicaid-income-level individuals. Additionally, every year the age limit of 60 goes down one year until age 50, with the idea that, if monitoring enrollment indicates a need to suspend further age decreases below 55 years of age, then that 55 becomes the floor. Also, Medicare for its entire population will begin to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies for their medications, and those deductibles greater than $2,000 per year will be banned for health-insurance policies sold to individuals with incomes less than 250 percent of the federal poverty limit (FPL). These parameters would be up for some thoughtful and reasonable negotiation.

Why expand Medicare as a buy-in option? Several reasons. First and foremost, the most vulnerable group in this pre-Medicare population has diabetes and hypertension. They smoke, use illegal drugs, and/or use excessive alcohol. They also have significant mental-health issues. Under this proposal, these individuals would have actual, legitimate access to good medical care now and as they age into the current Medicare program for individuals 65 years and older. They know that they need health care. That is why they represent the largest group of insurance buyers on the Exchange. The second reason is that Medicare expansion for this high-risk and high-cost age group might make private insurance more affordable for the rest of the population with the elimination of this age group in the insurance risk pool. Finally, because Medicare is a federal program, it would allow states that have not expanded Medicaid to have their 55- to 65-year-old low-income patients have full access to health care. A side benefit would be that Medicare expansion would allow more individuals to retire earlier because their health insurance is covered, opening up jobs in the economy. Current figures are not available on the number of Americans age 55 to 65 who continue to work past retirement age simply to maintain their health-care coverage.

Two side notes: One, I am impressed that Medicare is taking action through accountable-care organizations (ACOs) to lower the cost of health care. My Medicare ACO with the University of Iowa Alliance, which follows 75,000 Medicare-covered-people, is making great strides in improving quality and lowering cost. I am chair of its Clinical Operations Committee. Two, Iowa Governor Branstad signed the Medicaid oversight legislation, which will improve the oversight of Medicaid by for-profit managed-care organizations (MCOs). I have hopes of reasonable oversight because this legislation will have to assure the care of all Medicaid patients in Iowa.

Finally, at church Sunday morning, I noticed a significant number of small children present with their parents and grandparents, which coincides with a birthday party yesterday for my 2-year-old granddaughter. Her birth was noted on this blog at the time.

This post offers a mechanism that provides adequate health-care access for the grandparents and non-grandparents of this country who are age 50 to 65 while at the same time stabilizing health-care insurance for these children and their parents.

You should note that I continue to give private health-insurance companies a “piece of the action” to insure individuals in businesses and individuals younger than 50. I hope that I will not soon be replaying that old, forlorn love song once sung in a movie-set nightclub by Rose Mary Clooney.