We want fundamental changes to Medicare that keeps Medicare as is...
Posted on 06/13/2011 2:00:07 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
This report from a CBS poll starts promisingly enough:
A new CBS News poll shows that Americans have mixed feelings about what should happen to Medicare: While 53 percent say the program needs fundamental changes …
Wow! Here I was, underestimating the ability of the American public to deduce that a Ponzi scheme inevitably ends badly, and the voters surprise us all. Or at least they do until you read the rest of the sentence:
58 percent say it should continue the way it is set up now.
Er, so we should fundamentally change Medicare to keep it continuing as it is set up now? Where did CBS poll for these results, in psychiatric hospitals? Or did the methodology create the oxymoronic results?
Americans were asked which of three statements comes closest to their views: “Medicare works pretty well and only minor changes are necessary to make it work better”; “There are some good things about Medicare, but fundamental changes are needed”; or “Medicare has so much wrong with it that we need to completely rebuild it.”
Twenty-seven percent – including 36 percent of Democrats – said only minor changes are needed. Thirteen percent, meanwhile, said the program must be completely rebuilt. But 53 percent says Medicare needs fundamental changes — even though there are good things about it. That includes a majority of Republicans and independents, and 43 percent of Democrats. …
Respondents were also asked if they would like to see Medicare “continue the way it is set up now, as a program that pays the doctors and hospitals that treat senior citizens” or “if they think it should become “a program that gives senior citizens payments towards the purchase of private insurance.” Democrats have called for keeping Medicare as it is now, while Republicans have advocated transforming it into a voucher-style system in which seniors chose their coverage option and are allotted a certain amount of money to cover their insurance costs.
In the poll, 58 percent of Americans said the program should continue as it is now – including 70 percent of Democrats and 58 percent of independents. Less than half of Republicans – 45 percent – share that view. Majorities of both those who are over 55 and under 55 said the program should continue the way it is set up now. (The Republican plan would transform Medicare only for those who are 55 or younger.)
It’s easy to blame the pollster in this case, but the methodology really isn’t the problem in this case. (Nor is the sample; this came from the same poll as the presidential approval rating last week, where Democrats and Republicans were evenly sampled.) The problem in this case lies with the electorate, and the fundamental gap between acknowledging a problem and taking action to correct it.
Voters see the fiscal dead end towards which Medicare is hurtling at breakneck speed. They want the program changed to avoid the collapse, which most people understand will require fundamental changes. On the other hand, they don’t want to lose their future benefits, which they see as being guaranteed by the same single-payer model that has created the Ponzi scheme in the first place. It’s hard to imagine what kind of “fundamental” change envisioned by the obvious overlap of the 53% who back such change and the 58% who want the status quo to remain, but it’s clear that it would be akin to rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Without a doubt, this presents a big challenge to anyone who proposes fundamental change to Medicare, but it also poses problems for those who oppose fundamental changes, too. Politicians who keep using the Chip Diller routine of yelling “All is well!” are not likely to find their credibility boosted in this climate, while those who roll out a complete re-imagining of Medicare will have to work hard to convince people of the necessity of such an approach. It’s a perfect climate, unfortunately, for weak and barely-incremental proposals that merely kick the can a couple of years down the road … which is almost certainly what Joe Biden’s task force will end up recommending to Congress. The implosion will have to be in motion by the time voters are willing to part with the fantasy of single-payer, and by that time, it will be too late for comfortable transitions.
You have to FIRST convince the people what is wrong and how dire it truly is.
I think people hear “Medicare will be broke in 20XX” but won’t really understand the seriousness of it unless its explained to them.
Great point. Any fool can go out and run a poll saying “Would you like some free candy?” and get an overwhelming yes.
Most older folks these days and that includes some of my family just loves what they perceive as “free healthcareâ€. They goto the doctor as a social event, to kvetch about every bump, bruise, itch and tickle. My Mom’s friends in Florida, their week includes at least a trip a week to the doctor to complain about some ailment and then multiple trips to the casino, out for lunch and dinner and the theater. If we had substantial co-pays the older folks would not over utilize it and be more wise with OUR money. Some need it, but most could just realize that at 82 you are going to have joint soreness, dry hair and yes the occasional ache or pain. Medicare was never intended to be used like it is, as psychotherapy for hypochondria.
That’s an apt description, whether you’re talking about the user, who thinks changes don’t have to happen or the beleagured American taxpayer assuming the position.
What we want is our Congress rid of the cheats, liars and thieves.
yep. When I talk to people about this issue, I mention that it started out as a few % of the GDP, now is up to 19%, and is going to balloon to the point where it literally going to engulf our economy and suck it dry. While I never enter these discussions expecting an immediate change of opinion, I try to plant seeds so they will go back and learn on their own.
Americans: What we want is our Congress rid of the cheats, liars and thieves.
But we’ll vote to kick out anyone who tells us the truth about Medicare and Social Security!
Americans...still in denial.
I’m surprised at you! This apparent contradiction is, in fact, really easy to understand. What the poll responders are saying is this:
“I want fundamental changes to YOUR medicare... but I want MY medicare left as is.”
Duh. :-)
Then there are folks like me, I went on medicare, not by choice, on June 1st, 2010. I saw the doc 1 time after that in 2010 and paid the office call at medicare reimbursement rats of $55, all she could legally charge me, normal rate for office call was $75. I never got the medicare deductible paid in 2010.
So far in 2011, I have had one office visit and paid the $55 although her office call rate is now $92. I have one more office call scheduled in November, I go twice yearly. It will cost me another $55 and I won't meet the medicare deductible this year either, barring some unforseen incident. If all goes as expected, at the end of this year I will have paid $165 in office calls, for the year and a half and the doc will have taken a hit of $94 for the 3 visits.
I will have paid $1980 in medicare premiums. This in addition to the $385 monthly premiums I pay for my secondary insurer and my family's primary insurer.
People who get their deductible paid in, I believe it's $160 annualy now, will pay 20% of $55, ($11) for as many times as the doc will see them in a year, so yes, the system is ripe for abuse from hypochondriacs and scammers and I'm helping pay for it just like every other honest tax payer.
Americans have become so cynical about Washington that you can't explain it to them. And even if they do believe you, they'll insist that cutting foreign aid or food stamps will more than make up for any shortfalls.
Not true.
This, though I'd substitute "waste, fraud and abuse" for foodstamps and add in prisons. Basically when you poll these things Americans vaguely understand that we're overspending but don't actually want to cut much of anything - especially if it will in any way cut (or even modify) one of their goodies.
Add in the fact that our new generation of Hispanic voters have not even the slightest clue how free markets made American great in the first place, and well, we're pretty well screwed.
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