Buckle up, America. Congressional Republicans are preparing to regroup and respond to the heaps of criticism seniors piled on them at town halls across the country for their votes for the wildly unpopular Paul Ryan plan to "essentially end Medicare" and double seniors' out-of-pocket costs so millionaires, Big Oil and job-outsourcing corporations can have another tax break -- a plan dubbed "radical" by the same man that famously wished Medicare would 'wither on the vine.'
And that response is... to wax nostalgic about billions of dollars in wasteful and needless subsidies that used to be given to the big insurance companies to inefficiently reinvent the Medicare wheel at the expense of all beneficiaries. No, seriously.
From Politico:
Sen. Chuck Schumer vowed to make the Medicare changes in Paul Ryan's budget a defining campaign issue for Senate Republicans in 2012 -- but Republicans plan to respond by reviving criticism of cuts to the Medicare Advantage program that were built into the 2010 health care bill.
Republicans in Congress are clearly so desperate to distract the American people about their plan to end Medicare that they plan to dust off the old 2010 playbook and try to pull the same dirty trick play: that is to purposely try to scare and mislead seniors into believing that their Medicare benefits are getting cut under the new health care law. Ignoring the conclusions to the contrary at the time from independent fact checkers and the AARP, during the 2010 election, one after another, Republicans falsely accused their Democratic opponents of cutting Medicare's guaranteed benefits and they did so with the help of millions and millions and millions of dollars' worth of deceitful TV ads from corporate front groups.
The fact is, it's been over a year since the Affordable Care Act became law and no senior has seen their guaranteed benefits cut... period. What the new health law did cut, as part of its efforts to rein in waste and abuse in the system, was billions of dollars in wasteful in subsidies to private insurance companies that offer the so-called Medicare Advantage program, a program which needlessly and inefficiently reinvents the Medicare wheel at the expense of all beneficiaries.
As the Economic Policy Institute put it before the ACA became law: "In a nut shell, Medicare Advantage plans are private plans funded through Medicare to provide similar benefits, but at a 14% higher cost on average, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), an independent Congressional agency. Eliminating these overpayments would free up $157 billion over 10 years."
And as Center on Budget and Policy Priorities noted in a 2009 report: "The overpayments, which have totaled nearly $44 billion between 2004 and 2008, average more than $1,100 for each beneficiary enrolled in a private plan. By increasing Medicare costs, these overpayments also drive up premiums for beneficiaries in traditional Medicare by $86 per year for a couple, according to the chief actuary at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. More than 31 million seniors and people with disabilities enrolled in regular Medicare are forced to pay higher premiums each month to subsidize these excess payments.'
By eliminating these wasteful subsidies to the private insurance industry, Medicare is today stronger than it has ever been before. Not only did the health law strengthen Medicare's solvency by 12 years and not only do Medicare beneficiaries still have all the same guaranteed benefits they've always had, but seniors now have new benefits like free preventive care services and tens of thousands of enrollees who fall into the infamous Part D "donut hole" are saving an average of $800 per person thanks to a new 50-percent discount on covered brand-name drugs. And thanks to the Affordable Care Act, billions of dollars in waste, fraud and abuse in the system is getting tackled in a serious way -- you may have see this recent headline: "In 'Largest-Ever' Bust, Medicare Fraud Task Force Arrests 111.'
And the fact is, far from their campaign promises to protect Medicare, all but 5 House and 5 Senate Republicans voted to dismantle the cherished social contract with seniors and dramatically shortchange them on their care. As The Economist puts it, the GOP "plan ends the guarantee that all American seniors will have health insurance."
The fact is, these Republicans voted to replace Medicare with a voucher system where seniors in their 60s, 70s, 80s and older are given a coupon and sent out into the private insurance market -- a coupon that won't keep up with the rising costs of health care and will leave seniors paying over $6,000 more out of their pockets for care. Not stopping there, the Republican plan would also slash $1.4 trillion from Medicaid, leaving up to 44 million Americans uninsured, including most nursing home residents, as well as disabled people of any age. And despite Republican claims to the contrary, not even today's seniors would escape cuts in their Medicare benefits under the GOP plan as it would repeal provisions in the new health law that are working to fill in the Part D "donut hole" and help seniors pay for the medicines they need. In fact, under the GOP plan, next year alone, seniors currently in the donut hole would pay an additional $2.2 billion for their Rx drugs.
Bottom Line: If Republicans in Congress think going back to the mat for needless subsidies to the big insurance companies is a winning message that will distract the American people about their plan to end Medicare and Medicaid, more power to them.
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Medicare is intended to give older people guaranteed insurance to help the elderly continue to take care of themselves by assisting in their health care costs. The Republican plan forces the elderly to seek care through private insurers who consistently refuse the elderly coverage or charge so astronomically they can't afford it. With no collective bragaining power like Medicare has, the elderly will be stuck with the vastly inflated individual insurance rates. And most of them don't qualify even for those, because of pre-existing conditions or their age itself.
Whether paying more because the Republican plan will cover AT MOST less than 40% of their costs--and that's for the current generation; tomorrow's seniors will have less covered, and those after them less still, ad nauseum--or because they simply can't get any coverage, seniors will suffer because Medicare would effectively be ended by Ryan's bill.
The majority of people now know better than to listen to their lies. They know that no matter what the Republicans throw out their that it is just a distraction to cover their real agenda.
They are simply too poorly informed...and too gullible where the integrity of their own leaders are concerned.
The real problem for the GOP...and the section of the electorate that is being fought for...are those Center and Center-Right elderly voters for whom the Ryan Budget (and all the nonsense going on at the state level in GOP dominated legislatures) was a warning shot across the bow.