Re: Medicare: plan unfairly targets elderly

[Guest guest]

I read his plan, yes, the actual document. The Medicare thing is nothing more than a big giveaway to the insurance industry. Mr must think people are too stupid to figure this out, so he will continue to flim-flam the fearful. This tactic has been tried before, including the flim-flam part, and Republicans turned their backs on it. I'm interested in what they will do this time. I think Mr Boehner already feels the plan is in every way as though it had been given as a gift by Heaven itself.

Fall down six times; stand up seven.

Japanese proberb

From: rumjal <rumjal@...>Flu Sent: Fri, April 8, 2011 9:50:48 PMSubject: [Flu] Medicare: plan unfairly targets elderly

EDITORIAL: Rep. 's plan to revamp, cut Medicare unfairly targets elderly. Though Medicare requires cost control, 's proposal is too radical. Friday, Apr. 08, 2011 The Fresno Bee Rep. , R-Wis., widely touted as an "honest, deeply serious thinker," has offered his blueprint for America. Unfortunately, his plan takes a hard whack at health care for the elderly -- shifting costs to individuals and the states.It is worth remembering that before 1965, nearly half of the elderly people in this country had no health insurance. The problem was how to provide insurance against high medical costs in old age after people completed their working years and had less income. Medicare, which passed in 1965, effectively resolved that issue for our grandparents.But 's plan, embraced by House Republicans, tries to roll back the clock.Under his proposal, which he borrowed from former California Rep. Bill '

dead-on-arrival 1999 idea, the elderly no longer would receive the traditional Medicare card, with choice of doctors. Instead, older folks would get a voucher to help buy a health insurance policy. Payments would go to private insurers, not directly to hospitals and doctors, as occurs under traditional Medicare.The Congressional Budget Office analysis said that most elderly people "would bear a much larger share of their health care costs than they would under the current program." Not surprisingly, to avoid squawking from people most strongly attached to Medicare, would allow individuals 55 and older to keep traditional Medicare. assumes those folks will not fight for their children and grandchildren born after 1956. We hope he's wrong.Certainly, Medicare is under financial strain, requiring cost control measures. But it does not need 's radical transformation.Medicare is not the only tool uses to whack

the elderly. Since 1965, a federal/state Medicaid partnership has provided health insurance for low-income individuals. proposes steep cuts to the states by providing a fixed lump-sum annual payment to each state in a block grant.Who does this hurt? The elderly.Medicaid covers about seven of every 10 nursing home residents, because few individuals (even upper middle-income folks) can afford to pay for long-term care on their own for any length of time.While elderly and disabled people make up only 25% of Medicaid beneficiaries, they account for 70% of Medicaid expenditures, according to the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.That's why 16 governors, including Gov. Jerry Brown, have signed a letter strongly opposing 's block grant approach. says, "This isn't a budget. This is a cause." And his cause is an attack on the

elderly.http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/04/07/2341509/editorial-rep-ryans-plan-to-revamp.html