Free Republic

If people want some insight into the Donald Trump phenomenon, this issue might make for a good starting point. Trump’s positions on health care have not exactly hewn to Republican or conservative orthodoxy, to be sure, but the polling frontrunner has refused to back down from them. Last night in New Hampshire, Trump stuck to his government-as-arbiter guns, demanding that Medicare leverage its market presence to force pharmaceutical companies to negotiate on price — an option expressly prohibited in the 2003 Plan D program passed by Republicans.Note how the Associated Press frames this, too: Trump told an enthusiastic crowd...

The government spent $936 billion last year on health programs including Medicare, Medicaid and subsidies related to the Affordable Care Act, a jump of 13 percent from 2014, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Spending on Social Security, in contrast, totaled $882 billion, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported.

We won’t bury the lede. “National Health Spending In 2014: Faster Growth Driven By Coverage Expansion And Prescription Drug Spending.” That’s the title of an article from the January, 2016 print version of Health Affairs, published online December 2nd. Here are a few key findings… 1. US healthcare spending increased 5.3 percent to $3.0 trillion in 2014. That represents 17.5 percent of the gross domestic product. 2. The 2013 growth in spending figure was 2.9 percent. 2014’s higher growth in spending rate is due mostly to the major coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act, particularly for Medicaid and private...

From an Ezra Klein Twitter post: User Actions Follow Ezra KleinVerified account ‏@ezraklein Here's what Marco Rubio tostada on taxes, Medicare, marijuana, same sex marriage, and more: http://www.vox.com/2015/4/13/8406787/marco-rubio-issues …

The fate of a network of alternative “co-op” health plans started under ObamaCare remains uncertain going into 2016, after half of them collapsed amid deep financial problems. The co-ops are government-backed, nonprofit health insurers propped up with over $2 billion in taxpayer loans. Twelve of the 23 co-ops established under the Affordable Care Act, though, have gone or are expected to go under by the end of the year, leaving customers who used them scrambling for coverage and taxpayer money at risk. But, as lawmakers on Capitol Hill demand answers on what’s being done, the Obama administration is offering few...

Retirement savers will get the option to participate in a new type of retirement account next year, the myRA. There will also be fewer Social Security claiming options for married couples and a small Medicare premium increase for some beneficiaries. Here are some of the important ways retirement benefits will change in 2016...

As Donald Trump's poll numbers have faltered, his rhetoric, if you can believe it, has heated up. Except now he's starting to attack his Republican opponents from the left.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has reversed his views on America’s premiere health insurance program. Speaking to MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” today, the New York real estate mogul said he is in full support of Medicare. "Ben [Carson] wants to knock out Medicare. I heard that over the weekend. He wants to abolish Medicare,” Trump said of Carson’s comments that Medicare “probably won’t be necessary” under his health care plan. Trump added: “Abolishing Medicare, I don't think you'll get away with that one. It's actually a program that's worked. It’s a program that some people love, actually.” But it was just...

In 2009 Democrats ran this ad claiming Republicans wanted to end Medicare. DNC TV Ad: “Republicans Want to End Medicare” It was a lie. But Democrats know it is an effective tactic to scare seniors away from voting Republican. Fast forward to 2015… This week The Politico reported that Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson wants to abolish Medicare. ben carson Via Politico: “ Republicans have fended off accusations for years that they’d gut Medicare for seniors and end the program “as we know it.” Not Ben Carson. The former neurosurgeon acknowledges he would abolish the program altogether. Carson, who...

Fox News Sunday‘s Chris Wallace was a little baffled this morning as he confronted Ben Carson over whether he would get rid of Medicare. Carson insisted he would do no such thing and is merely proposing health savings accounts to “eliminate the need” for Medicare. Reports last week said that Carson would have the government put $2000 a year into everyone’s accounts. Wallace asked him if that means giving everyone the same amount of money. Carson said no, but Wallace said, “That’s what you were saying, sir.” When Wallace pressed him on his past indication he would eliminate Medicare, Carson...

Republicans have fended off accusations for years that they'd gut Medicare for seniors and end the program "as we know it." Not Ben Carson. The former neurosurgeon acknowledges he would abolish the program altogether. Carson, who now leads the GOP field in Iowa according to the latest Quinnipiac Poll, would eliminate the program that provides health care to 49 million senior citizens, as well as Medicaid, and replace it with a system of cradle-to-grave savings accounts which would be funded with $2,000 a year in government contributions. While rivals have been pummeled for proposing less radical changes, Carson hasn't faced...

More than 65 million seniors got their pockets picked last week, and the hue and cry could be heard across the country. The Social Security Administration announced Thursday that there would be no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2016. Yes, America’s elderly, who paid into the system with each paycheck, are getting screwed. And that’s due to the way the SSA’s COLA calculation is done — it essentially comes directly from the notoriously inaccurate Consumer Price Index (CPI). Why not use the “Core CPI,” which strips out food and energy and is not subject to the volatile swings in commodities...

The window is closing for congressional leaders to avert the double-digit premium hikes that are set to hit 8 million Medicare enrollees next year. Congress has only a handful of weeks to prevent the 52 percent premium hikes — the largest in the program’s history — that will harm seniors and drain state budgets. And with a key deadline missed on Thursday, aides of both parties say a deal between House leaders by year’s end is becoming less likely.

About 30% of the roughly 52 million people enrolled in Part B could see a 52% rise in those premiums if Congress and the Obama administration don’t find a way to freeze or reduce the increase. New beneficiaries, those with high incomes and Medicare recipients who don’t get Social Security would be hit with the increase. For them, the standard Part B premium would rise about $55 a month, or about $650 a year.

WASHINGTON — The 60 million people on Social Security will not receive any cost-of-living increase in their benefits in 2016, the government said on Thursday, but because of a quirk in federal law, nearly one-third of Medicare beneficiaries could see record increases in their premiums unless Congress intervenes. With millions of older Americans on fixed incomes facing that one-two punch, the Obama administration is urging Congress to moderate or stop the health insurance premium increases, which could raise the cost for some Medicare beneficiaries by about 50 percent — the largest increase, by far, in the history of Medicare. But...

In case anyone thought things couldn’t get more chaotic on Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Mitch McConnell appears ready to set them straight. McConnell, according to a report first published by CNN, plans to make several major demands of the White House, including changes to Medicare, Social Security, and EPA regulations as his price for raising the nation’s debt limit. Related Stories The report from CNN’s Manu Raju complicates the already fraught debate over whether and how to increase the Treasury Department’s ability to borrow the money it needs to pay the nation’s debts. Failure to allow additional borrowing would, at...

Health insurance provider Colorado Access is going to cut Medicare coverage for the coming year. As a result of the move around 5,500 senior and disabled customers will have to look for alternatives. Chief operating officer of Colorado Access, Matt Case has said that the Denver-based nonprofit will also let go 83 employees who were a part of Colorado Access Medicare and its subsidiary Access Health Colorado. Besides this, extra 40 openings will remain unfilled. Case said that Colorado Access has also drawn down administrative expenses, cutting down the salaries of its executive teams. Case said, “While it's never easy...

Medicare paid $30 million for ambulance rides for which no record exists that patients got medical care at their destination, the place where they were picked up or other critical information.

Source: Source information located at the bottom of column. First the good news. The federal governmentÂ’s tax receipts are coming in at a rate somewhat higher than what was expected a few months ago. That means a shut-down-the-government debt limit stalemate will be pushed back until November or December. It also means that the federal debt will actually decline a bit this year. Now for the bad news. We are experiencing the calm before the storm. The Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday that although our fiscal situation is improving, by 2018 we will snap back to swelling deficits and unsustainable...

The good news for Jeb Bush is that he’s the perfect candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. The bad news is that he’s the perfect candidate in the year 2000. That’s the counterfactual scenario that most Bush-watchers have spun over the years. Had Jeb won the 1994 race in which he first pursued Florida’s governorship, the theory goes, it would have been him rather than his older brother who became the GOP’s standard-bearer in 2000. Instead, Jeb narrowly lost the ’94 race to Democrat Lawton Chiles, George W. won his contest in Texas in the same year and the younger...