Posted on 12/08/2003 8:47:55 AM PST by Reagan Man
President Bush has made it official. By signing into law the new Medicare Prescription Drug Program, the President has given his approval to the largest increase in spending by the federal government since Medicare itself was created and signed into law by the liberal Democrat, President Johnson in 1965. The President has given his okay to raise government expenditures by $400 billion over the next ten years. We all know spending on this Medicare PDP, will not stop at $400 billion. As with all government entitlement programs, the costs to run this new addition to the federal bureaucracy will double or triple over the next ten years.
Bush does win on the politics, but its not a political victory for conservatives or for the GOP in the long term. Medicare is not on the road to privatization.
Throwing money at problems is the way liberal Democrats solved things throughout the 1960`s and 1970`s. That's how the governments entitlement programs grew to over 60% of the current budgetary expenditures. Most traditional conservatives don't oppose assisting the elderly poor, the seriously handicapped or America's military veterans. However, this addition to Medicare, is a boondoggle for government, the drug companies and financially secure seniors.
In the 2000 election campaign, candidate Bush ran on reforming Medicare. His plan called for $158 billion program that assisted the elderly poor, while injecting a much needed modernization phase into the system. What the President signed into law today, was not what he ran on in 2000. President Bush has proven, he is a BIG GOVERNMENT Republican.
The Hertitage Foundation did a solid analysis on the new Mediacre-PDP. You can find it here, Why Medicare Expansion Threatens the Bush Tax Cuts and Undermines Fundamental Tax Reform . Robert Samualson wrote a good piece on the subject. Medicare as Pork Barrel. Here's another good article, Analysts: Medicare Drug Costs Will Rise.
A snippet from the Heritage Foundation analysis.
The Medicare prescription drug proposal is bad health policy, exacerbating the flaws in a system that has almost no market-based incentives to improve service and control costs. But the House and Senate bills also will undermine sound tax and economic policy in several ways. Specifically:
The size of government will expand
A new entitlement will take America even faster down the road that has caused so much economic damage in Europe's welfare states. Indeed, the unfunded Medicare expansion is essentially a huge future tax increase since the population of Medicare recipients will nearly double once the baby-boom generation retires. Ironically, just when some European countries are waking up to the problem and restraining unfunded entitlements, America will be creating an enormous new entitlement.
President Bush's recently enacted tax cut and tax reform package will likely be the first casualty
Because of arcane budget rules, the bulk of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire at the end of 2008 and the end of 2010. Extending these tax cuts or making them permanent will be enormously difficult in an environment of skyrocketing spending for government-provided health care. Indeed, the creation of a prescription drug entitlement may be akin to repealing the Bush tax cuts.
By adding to the deficit, the huge new unfunded liability will likely be the death knell of further tax relief and fundamental tax reform
A prescription drug benefit means bigger deficits--a problem that will intensify as the baby boomers start to retire in the next decade. Once these demographic and fiscal variables become part of the budget forecast, lawmakers seeking to cut taxes and create a simple and fair tax code, such as the flat tax, in all probability will face insurmountable political obstacles.
1. It is voluntary.
2. Seniors who opt for this program and who have income above a certain level will pay higher premiums.
3. You can have either Medi-gap insurance or the Medicare insurance, not both. Many people, like my mother, will remain with their private coverage.
Can you show me the facts? I'm not at all convinced that the availability of drugs does anything more than defer surgery until a later time. Of course, I've seen it referenced as "fact" so often I'm sure there must be plenty of studies out there.
Of course, that's to say nothing of the fact that drugs are readily available to seniors should they need them under the current system. This new entitlement is filling a nonexistant gap.
As for Saudi Arabia, I would like to believe that they are still a solid ally. With the royal family being as large as it is, it seems that there are bound to be a couple duds in the bunch. At the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if the Royal Family is unofficially funneling money to terrorist organizations in their country in order to squelch dissent, or an all-out revolt within their kingdom.
How many private companies do you think will just get rid of their prescription programs because the federal government already has one available?
Private companies with better benefits than those available through this new PDP. Which will start the refrain among those who lost better coverage for more comprehensive benefits under this system. And who will oppose them?
The same 'start small' approach happened with vouchers and the 'No Child Left Behind Act', if I'm not mistaken. I'd look for the same thing to happen with partial privatization of social security next.
My mother is a retired teacher. Her coverage is part of the contract negotiated by the State Teachers Association. It is better coverage than the Medicare coverage, and the current teachers will not give it up in negotiations. Many people are covered through unions, pension plans, etc. I doubt those people will be switching to the government program.
I'm thinking that since we can't beat the big government, we might as well join the big ripoff.
I once worked for a company that delivery medical equipment/services to Medicare patients. The company owner told me that suckling Medicare's udder is more profitable than drug-dealing.
Now that Medicare will join the prescription drug racket, my former boss will have to refine his previous statement. Providing Medicare's drugs will be as profitable as any other drug dealing scheme.
And it's legal. The gubment will publish a list of how much the drug companies will be able to overcharge seniors,("fair" market prices), and this entitlement will become huge.
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