Posted on 08/23/2017 9:40:35 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Medicare’s trust fund will run out of money in just over 10 years, according to a new report from the program’s trustees. Once that happens, the federal government won’t collect enough in payroll taxes to cover beneficiaries’ hospital bills.
Congress could hike taxes to cover the shortfall. Or it could ration care to save money.
Or it could modernize and restructure Medicare — by giving beneficiaries means-tested vouchers to buy private insurance. Doing so would protect taxpayers now, preserve the program for future generations and even provide higher-quality care to seniors.
Medicare‘s spending isn’t sustainable. Congress can stave off massive tax hikes and benefit cuts by voucherizing the program — and injecting some much-needed competition into the health care market.
(Excerpt) Read more at morningconsult.com ...
Sally C. Pipes is president, CEO and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy at the Pacific Research Institute.
there are some of us out here who had our own health insurance and DID NOT WANT TO BE FORCED INTO MEDICARE
make Medicare voluntary and then worry about it
And every month, they take $110 right out of my SS check.
And every time I get a COLA increase, Medicare takes that, too.
In the last 5 years, I have gained $1 a month in my SS check.
Its not being reformed.
Polls consistently say that Americans would rather have taxes raised than cut Medicare, preferably not their own naturally.
Trump promised to not cut it at all because he wanted to win.
Obamacare raided the medicare funds to expand medicaid.
They should just pay Americans back, the money (plus interest) they took from their employers and workers for social security and medicare and then cancel the programs.
Stealing from Americans is not an option...voters on medicare and social security are too big to fail. Bigger than the banksters.
As usual somebody is lying because reimbursement rates are audited to make sure service is not provided at a loss.
Everybody lies. Everybody lies to some degree. A lot lie bigly. Especially when it comes to an agenda or money.
It appears that the only way the system can be “fixed” is to let it collapse.
If our treacherous creatures in Congress would get off their ass, repeal Obamacare, and lower taxes, the economy would blast off even more than it already has.
When this happens, receipts to the federal government will increase substantially. The general fund would expand with Medicare and Social Security being much more solvent.
These articles are worthless unless they advocate for implementing Trump’s plans and improving the nations lot across the board.
The goal seems to be to scare the living “stuff” out of Seniors. This is just another way to abuse the elderly IMO, and the media and Congress should stop it, get their act together and push toward the things that will make our nation’s financial standing better. For everyone...
Voucherize it, or just start killing off the elderly.
Which do YOU think our current crop of elites will choose?
My wife and I are 63 and expect to retire at 66. We have no health care insurance and would prefer to not get medicare, but understand we will be FORCED to get it. We’ll probably never use it.
We just saw a movie a couple of days ago that we’d never heard of. It summed up, in a very real way, our take on health care and why we don’t have health insurance. i.e. your health is your responsibility and, truth be told, the vast majority of people don’t really need health insurance.
the movie was “Fat, Sick and nearly dead”.
The movie doesn’t say it, but in the movie is a strong hint at why we have a health insurance crisis in the US.
America nearly universally wants it’s Socialism, if it’s called “Medicare” or “Social Security”. They think it’s “free” or that it is somehow and “earned benefit”.
Now with the medical costs, and medical insurance costs out of control and no appetite to bring them into an actual marketplace, everyone thinks that making it “free” is the solution.
It doesn’t matter if your are liberal or conservative, America wants Socialism.
We won’t be cured until the government goes broke, and everyone realizes that if they want something, they have to pay for it.
Gee, who would have thought that a Ponzi scheme would eventually crumble.
Actually a Ponzi scheme is something we voluntarily enter into. With Medicare you are forced into it with the full force of an unconstitutional federal law.
Pelosi wants Medicare for everyone. Damn the costs. Probably illegals too.
If they would actually fix things..or rather conduct our nations business honestly ..a lot of our elected officials, in office now,would be out of a job.
Or, in jail.
Of course ilegals.
We will be paying much higher taxes long before that happens.
“We have no health care insurance and would prefer to not get medicare, but understand we will be FORCED to get it. We’ll probably never use it.”
Are you saying that you pay cash for medical care now,and will continue to do so?
.
The problem is Seniors such as myself who only have Part A can't buy health insurance policies for anything else. I feel like we're being bullied into taking the program. An ambulance ride and treatment in an emergency ward (my case a dislocated shoulder) costs thousands of dollars.
It's not our fault that Medicare is a money-spending behemoth. Parts B and D with the things they cover are an invitation to over-spend on medical care.
read my #19
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