Republicans Fight Plans To Cut Medicare Spending

Washington Post:

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.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[Edward Heller]

11:35 AM on 09/29/2009

If anyone is watching or listening to CSPAN right now you will see how Republicans are now trashing Medicare to try to kill public option and they are all using it to demonize "Single Payer". They can't make up their mind whether they want to save it or kill it.

[StillAmused]

08:19 AM on 09/29/2009

Rachel Maddow very effectively connected the dots, revealing these same m orons' long record of attacking -- even trying to 'privatize' -- Medicare... until they realized they could pander to seniors by distorting, as "cuts", Obama's proposal to dump Medicare subsidies to the bloated private, for-profit insurers.

Republicans have learned that you can wreak havoc by screaming "AT-TI-CA!!" at a lousy zoning board hearing.

[JiminNC]

07:14 AM on 09/29/2009

So now they support government run health care and uncontrolled spending? Interesting.

[Jaybot]

06:37 AM on 09/29/2009

Right on cue, I get an email from the AMA concerning cuts to Medicare. No one said they weren't well organized and well coordinated. They're wrong, of course, but that's a given.

[mergina]

05:54 AM on 09/29/2009

Just think about this party, these useless members of the party of NO. They do nothing, they laugh at the fact that they are doing nothing, yet if they send a strong candidate into the 2012 election, they will win the presidency. They may be the party of NO that is doing nothing, but Obama and his party are the party of MAYBE, and no wins over maybe.

[Buddy McCue]

07:34 AM on 09/29/2009

Certainty is attractive to many people, even if it's wrong.

[jde]

03:49 AM on 09/29/2009

Republicans have lost all control of their messaging. They seem to be in even worse shape than before the drubbing they got in the election.

[Terrence0258]

03:40 AM on 09/29/2009

These guys have no shame. They even oppose Obama on things they support.

[dems08]

02:17 AM on 09/29/2009

It's all just a game to pubs.

[obama20082012]

11:01 PM on 09/28/2009

They were against deficits before they were for them. Even without health care reform Medicare stands to go broke by 2017.

[Gidster]

07:37 AM on 09/29/2009

That is not exactly true.

The accounting does not include savings, or future income sources. The fact that they use these numbers is simply a canard.

Sure the Republicans want everyone to equate Medicare Advantage, a private for profit supplemental insurance, with Medicare, a government run non profit program, it makes their doom and gloom that much more salient.

The funding cut would be to subsidies paid to the insurance companies that administer Medicare Advantage, not Medicare itself.

The waste cut from Medicare would be in records keeping, duplicate testing from Primary care physicians and specialists etc.

[Ruh17]

10:10 PM on 09/28/2009

Isn't it ironic. The party that has done everything it can to undermine Medicare since it began is now trying to keep all of the inefficiencies in Medicare just to undermine the rest of healthcare reform. My head hurts.

[obama20082012]

11:01 PM on 09/28/2009

That's because you have a functioning brain.

[mummblemouth]

10:06 PM on 09/28/2009

How dare the democrats try to cut the subsidies that we provided to the insurers and pharma companies under the name of Medicare Advantage! What a disgrace.

[moongal6]

07:42 PM on 09/28/2009

The public has become more aware of these so called cuts to Medicare.
The cuts are not to any services of Medicare.
The cuts are to Medicare Advantage providers BLOATED PROFITS.
Their reimbursement rates are 14%, where other regular Medicare providers reimbursement is 3-4 %.

There are no proposed cuts in Medicare, only to the profits of providers of Medicare Advantage.

[neesy08]

06:40 PM on 09/28/2009

Why are the GOP fighting against cuts in a program they never liked????? Especially when previously they WANTED cuts????

[cyndeewi]

07:01 PM on 09/28/2009

It's the medicare advantage that the GOP does not want cut. The GOP is making good money off of it and it does not help seniors.

[jmpurser]

07:16 PM on 09/28/2009

Exactly. It's a program where the Government sends tax dollars to private companies to provide medicare for about 10% of the people on medicare. Of course, it costs more to do it this way so the Democrats want to cut the program and treat everyone the same. The GOP has a problem with that.

[neesy08]

07:42 PM on 09/28/2009

That needs to be eliminated, it is not needed. And if the GOP are profitting, it definitely needs to be cut!!

[moongal6]

07:46 PM on 09/28/2009

The R's CREATED Medicare Advantage. It was part of the 2003 Medicare Reform Act.
They promised inHumana and other Advantage providers at least ten years of bloated profits from high reimbursement rates.
Oh, the irony.

[Ricardo01]

06:28 PM on 09/28/2009

Let's tell the Republicans we are going to cut out health care reform and social security.

[Wilbur]

06:05 PM on 09/28/2009

I guess this means that the GOP was against Medicare before it was FOR Medicare. Hmmmm!

Wilbur

[jay1975]

07:10 PM on 09/28/2009

Like the Dems were against civil rights before they were for it. Both parties evolve to pander to their base regardless of their personal values and beliefs. Both are opposite sides of teh same pathetic coin.

[Wilbur]

09:28 PM on 09/28/2009

Southern Dems (a.k.a. "Dixiecrats") were against civil rights. Northern Dems (true Democrats) favored civil rights. Nice try at historical revisionism, though. Well, maybe not nice - pathetic might be a more appropriate adjective to describe your attempt at fact twisting.

Wilbur

[jde]

03:47 AM on 09/29/2009

Republicans claim to love the rebel flag AND Abraham Lincoln. I think that says it all.