Liberals: Would you agree to the Ryan Medicare proposal if there was a cap on premiums?

Question

Ryan’s proposal for Medicare as is would be to allow the patient to shop for insurance with subsidized funds from the federal government. No doubt this will greatly reduce the deficit since Medicare is the single most expensive entitlement we have. However, many people are concerned that it would end up costing the senior more “out-of-pocket” costs which many can’t afford since most seniors are on a fixed income. So, if Congress were to implement a cap on senior premiums, meaning a maximum monthly premium that the senior would pay, would opponents of the bill then be more in favor of the Ryan proposal?

Answer 1

Ryan's plan is predicated on the idea that commercial insurance can provide health care more efficiently, more care for the money, than the government plan. But we've seen for decades now that

Medicare has much lower overhead and administrative expenses than commercial insurance. If you spend the same amount on commercial insurance, the insurance companies skim 25-30% off the top before anyone gets any health care. How do you save money by spending it less efficiently?



Look at ALL the health care proposals made by Republicans in the last decade or so and you see the same feature--they are not intended to improve healthcare, OR to save money, the real purpose of all of them is to shovel more taxpayer money to corporations.

Answer 2

Seniors already have monthly premium that are capped according to low or high income classifications. They increase every few years. If you are lower income and also get Medicaid, you may have your monthly Medicare premiums paid by your state. Otherwise a person pays around $110 a month. The premium can be much higher if they are also covered by a group plan at work or they are buy-ins if they did not pay Medicare payroll tax for 10 years.



The problem is also that Medicare covers only 75-80% of peoples medical bills, so a senior has to buy another policy costing $150 a month to cover the rest of the bills.

Answer 3

A cap would lead to a cap on benefits. Once seniors see the reduction in benefits, they would vote in politicians who would increase the cap enough to migrate the benefit of deficit reduction. "The bottom line is this: Medicare’s outlays have been growing far faster than either GDP or the average workers’ wages. This means that we have no choice: we must break the curve of Medicare inflation, or give up Medicare altogether." Paul Ryan's plan is giving up on Medicare. The Affordable Care Act signed by President Obama tries to curb Medicare inflation. Read the link below about how IPAB plans to do that.



http://www.healthbeatblog.com/2011/04/fact-vs-fear-mongering-about-the-independent-payment-advisory-board-part-1.html

Answer 4

the 2d paragraph is a quote from Ryan? The discern of $38 million unfunded application could desire to be referenced. I relatively have not study or seen that discern. of path the Fox information Republican occasion selections numbers and information out of nowhere so I account for that. Medicare is unlikely bankrupt. It has advance into extra solvent below Prez O. with measures taken and deliberate. on the grounds that Pres O. have been given into workplace, his Dept of HHS has been engaged on extending the solvency of Medicare. on the grounds that Repubs dont like social classes, they shouldnt project approximately getting Medicare interior the destiny on the grounds that they are adversarial to it. they are in a position to easily purchase assurance on their own.

Answer 5

Any system that involves private medical insurance companies is doomed from the beginning, because those companies will find a way to claim any federal funds for themselves, without letting their customers see a dime of it. That's how we got here.

Answer 6

Right now my mother is paying $125 a month for her medicare supplement.Which is about 10% of her SS.This does not include what the government takes for her medicare A & D!Which is about another $150 a month!

Answer 7

No, not when they're also threatening to repeal the health care reform bill. Private insurance companies are greedy and corrupt by nature. They don't want to insure anyone who might actually need medical care. That's why health care reform was so desperately needed. Any way you slice it, Ryan and his fellow Republicans want retired Americans to be deprived of health care, unless of course they're retired Congressmen, and then they're fixed for life thanks to our tax dollars. That hypocrisy is what infuriates me. They don't care how miserable they make life for the rest of us because it doesn't affect them.

Answer 8

How can you possibly convince private insurance companies to abide by a cap mandated by the federal government. There is no way to enforce. Must all companies abide? For how long? Can they opt out if they're losing money?

Answer 9

I'd be open to that compromise. It's not the perfect solution, but it's a better solution.



Edit: See the thumbs-down? This is why our system of government is broken. Compromise is considered a dirty word.

Answer 10

no, because the insurance lobbyists would reverse any cap and the cons would go along with their lobbyists

Answer 11

Most of them don't even know what it is, they only spew out left-wing talking points. They would object to a "free gold bars for liberals" bill if a Republican came up with it, that is how ridiculously partisan they are.