Coburn’s cuts: Taking on Medicare and Medicaid

[Bluebear]

Editor’s note: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) released a plan in July that he said would achieve $9 trillion in deficit savings over the next decade. Here, we review parts of the proposal.

Coburn, a doctor, has some strong ideas about Medicare and Medicaid, which, he said, provide “health-care coverage for approximately one in five Americans and, along with Social Security, make up the backbone of the federal safety net.”

Among his proposals: raising the entry age for Medicare; means-testing beneficiary payments; raising some premiums for all seniors; increasing funding for investigating fraud and abuse of both systems; and freezing for 10 years the Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors.

Why such dramatic steps? Coburn agrees with the Congressional Budget Office that the dramatic growth of federal spending on health care is “the single greatest threat to budget stability.”...

Coburn believes that the federal safety net for seniors should reflect that Americans are living longer than when the laws were enacted.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/coburns-cuts-taking-on-medicare-and-medicaid/2011/08/10/gIQAHECjFJ_story.html

[aquart]

1. Coburn wants to kill millions of Americans.

Nice of him.

[Angry Dragon]

2. Congress is living longer than we would like so it is time

to do away with Congressional pensions
it is only fair that he gives something also

[Bluebear]

3. Excellent point.

[Firebrand Gary]

4. Coburn the Killer.

You know Senator,

I agree with your statement, so long as you change a two words. See if you can find them?

Coburn agrees with the Congressional Budget Office that the dramatic growth of CORPORATE spending on ELECTIONS is “the single greatest threat to budget stability.”...

[starroute]

5. Living longer means more health expenses, not fewer

The average 65 year old today is not necessarily healthier than the average 65 year old fifty years ago. The difference in life expectancy is a matter of medical intervention, particularly to reduce heart attack deaths.

The fact that people are living longer means they need more support in paying medical bills while they're in their sixties, not less.

The insurance companies know this -- their rates for individual coverage skyrocket once you hit 60.

Why is our government so deliberately perverse?