Posted on 10/22/2015 6:19:59 PM PDT by GIdget2004
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 the same scrutiny -- and his continued traction in polls has left GOP strategists and conservative health care wonks scratching their heads.
"This isn’t a borderline issue. The politics of this are horrific," said Doug Holtz-Eakin, head of the American Action Forum and health care adviser to Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
It would be a good step to transitioning back to private health insurance, and disconnecting health insurance from employment.
Finished for what reason?
Let me ask you. Do you want to leave 53 million old people without health care? You have got to be MAD!!
Um, that’s not how much it “costs.”
And most of us are loyal voters.
Yeah Carson would be in trouble in Iowa from all those 80 year old voters who support him there. That’s his Iowa base from what I have read. I don’t think they know about his viewpoint on Medicare.
Oh sorry, what 121 dollars? Goodness what a stickler. You know my point.
How is it not a freebie giveaway? Reagan was rightly against Medicare and Medicaid. Don’t you recall those speeches he gave against them?
Carson didn’t say he’d eliminate it overnight either. But getting rid of this socialism would be good for this country. Everyone thinks the Uncle Sam owes them a favor.
Under the plan Carson outlined most specifically last year, the government would contribute $2,000 to each individual’s tax-free account every year, with a third of the funding earmarked for insurance to cover severe medical incidents.
Individuals and employers could contribute additional funds to the accounts, and the unspent funds could be shared among family members, which Carson says "makes every family their own insurance company."
It's different.
Medicaid is a freebie, whereas Medicare is something that working people paid into for decades before retirement.
Sounds interesting, but it would never get out of Committee in Congress.
I’m sure that an enterprising individual would figure out People could spend that $2,000 on Lottery Tickets.
Which reminds me, why are we still waiting for that $2,500 Yearly Check The Dear Leader promised us when Congress passed Obamacare?
Look up the payouts. They’re nowhere near the amount that people paid in.
It’s welfare and it’s not sustainable.
The latest news is, Medicare payment per mth will go up over 50% for next year. Your $108 will be in the range of $162+ next year.
still cheap as heck. It is really a bargain. Go in for a 10,000 dollar operation and you are responsible for only 2 grand. Not bad. Everyone clearly comes ahead with Medicare.
still cheap as heck. It is really a bargain. Go in for a 10,000 dollar operation and you are responsible for only 2 grand. Not bad. Everyone clearly comes ahead with Medicare.
Fully agree with your #14, Leni!!
Where does Carson think the $$ will come from to support his idea of the Gov’t. pumping $2000 a year into everyone’s health savings account “from cradle to grave”? Wouldn’t that be well over a half trillion each year?
If he is suggesting that seniors give up their Medicare for $ 2,000 per year, then let me be the first to say that he has been misunderstood. Forget anything he said, that is not what he meant.
I oppose Medicare personally, but I am not running for office. If he were to seriously pursue that proposal, he would be left with 5% of the senior vote. This is an impossible proposal for a national candidate.
I mean it is subsidized.
As someone who just went on Medicare, all I can say is that it won’t be long before it is useless. Compared to the care my mother got during a serious illness, today they won’t even pay for a simple blood test to see why I am continually anemic. Pretty soon, they’ll cover nothing. Decisions are made by faceless bean counters who wouldn’t could only be an improvement.
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