The GOP's 180 on Medicare

[steven johnson]

The world has gone topsy turvy with the GOP supporting socialist Medicare and the Democrats discussing decreasing the Medicare expenditures. When Medicare was created in 1965, Republicans in Congress overwhelmingly opposed it. They called it socialized medicine and wanted old sick people on fixed incomes to fend for themselves for medical care. The Tea-baggers have conveniently forgotten that Medicare is a government program: "Keep the government out of Medicare!" In other words, the GOP has come to love the middle and upper middle class welfare of Medicare and they don't want it's funding decreased or -- heaven forbid -- means tested.

The Washington Post looks at how Republicans, who previously haven’t been Medicare’s biggest defenders in Washington, suddenly are championing the government program and its funding. “After years of trying to cut Medicare spending, Republican lawmakers have emerged as champions of the program, accusing Democrats of trying to steal from the elderly to cover the cost of health reform.”

“It's a lonely battle. The hospital associations, AARP and other powerful interest groups that usually howl over Medicare cuts have also switched sides. Last week, they stood silent as the Senate Finance Committee debated a plan to slice more than $400 billion over the next decade from Medicare, the revered federal insurance program for people over 65, and Medicaid, which also serves many seniors.”

And don’t miss this paragraph, which gets to the issue of whether industry can live up to its cut promises. "Some budget analysts worry that industry groups, though confident now, may find it difficult to live up to their part of the bargain. The Baucus bill would create an independent commission charged with ratcheting payment rates even lower in the years to come. Others say the cuts, even if they stand, are insufficient to fix a program facing the twin burdens of a rapidly growing population of retirees and rampant health-care inflation. Unless health reform delivers on Obama's promise to restrain the overall cost of health spending, Medicare will undoubtedly stay on the chopping block."


CONGRESS: THE GOP'S 180 ON MEDICARE

[MarjorieG]

1. We need to take the recent GOP about-face and fix to Medicare rates or lower age to 55. Have them

vote for or against, publically. We need to distiguish better between the recent and private Advantage passed without paying for it, maybe to rush demise of Medicare when enacted a few years ago, and regular Medicare.

[Extend a Hand]

2. I think lowering the age to 55 would help with the high rate of unemployment

by encouraging early retirement by those lucky enough to still have a company sponsored pension.

[doc03]

3. I'll go along with that or at least 62 since that

is the early retirement age.