Posted on 11/11/2016 12:17:01 PM PST by tekrat
House Speaker Paul Ryan has his eyes on privatizing Medicare.
The Wisconsin Republican leader, who has long expressed his disapproval of the Affordable Care Act, will also be the leading voice in health-care reform.
“What people don’t realize is that Medicare is going broke, that Medicare is going to have price controls. Because of Obamacare, Medicaid is in fiscal straits,” Ryan said in an interview with Fox News Thursday. “So you have to deal with those issues if you’re going to repeal and replace Obamacare. Medicare has got some serious problems because of Obamacare. Those things are part of our plan to replace Obamacare.”
(Excerpt) Read more at salon.com ...
Paul Ryan lost my trust some time ago, and has done nothing to regain it. What is it with these people, doing everything they could to derail Trump and now they seem to think their wants and opinions still carry some sort of weight?
Yep. And add patent reform to the list as well, especially drug patents.
You said: A slippery slope. If the government can tell private business how it may compensate its employees then where does it end.
I say: Exactly my point. You see, I used WWII for a reason. This is when the FedGov installed wage freezes. To counter this and to entice good new-hires, employers started offering free health care as part of their incentive package. i.e. our health care crisis was literally caused by the FedGov.
You said: If only sick people buy health insurance then the costs to the insurance company goes through the roof.
I say: You are correct. But that is not where I was going with it. I use life insurance as an example. People are enticed to purchase on the cheap while they are young and healthy because when they are old and/or sick, it will be extremely expensive. So, in a free market, insurance companies can offer dirt cheap insurance with “guaranteed low rates for the rest of your life” when you are young and healthy, but once you get sick, or wait until you are very old, it will bankrupt you. And after that happens to a few people, the message will be clear.
You said: If I total my car the insurance company is out $30,000. If I get cancer the bills could run into the hundreds of thousands.
I say: Two things:
1. Those of us without health care insurance have found that actual health care costs are drastically cheaper when you don’t use insurance to pay. I’m talking 70-90% cheaper.
2. The odds of you getting sick enough to cost insurance companies a LOT of money some time in your lifetime are actually much lower than of you totaling your car. Of course, if you try to buy insurance right after being diagnosed with cancer, the rates may be, um, higher.
Life insurance companies got ridiculously rich by investing the money people pay for premiums to the point that they can easily handle the payouts when people die. And the beauty of health insurance is that when a client, after decades of premiums and good health, dies in a fiery car crash, they pay nothing. Also, when people are allowed to choose the kind of insurance they have, it can greatly affect the cost of insurance. Imagine most of the population only having “catastrophic” coverage. That means you only go to the doctor or emergency when you “really” need to.
And, again, the internet makes is possible for the average person to very effectively self diagnose simple problems. And if you DO break a leg, it is actually not that expensive to pay for out of pocket. Maybe one month’s 2016 health care premium, if that.
Now if you are in favor of a big tax increase on your kids and grandkids to cover your medical expenses for the rest of your life, you are welcome to say so. But do not pretend that there is some magic pot of money somewhere that will prevent the Medicare trust fund going tits up.
Yep. And one thing I would bet a month's pay on is that whatever plan Trump comes up with will not restore that money to Medicare. You read it here first.
See my post 67 above. That’s what will happen. Trimming services and availability bit by bit by bit, like boiling the proverbial frog.
So you believe the death panel thingy will happen too I assume.
“I’m not sure what Ryan has in mind, But Newt proposed that back in the 1990’s. How it works is a voucher is given to a retiree and he or she can shop for their own health insurance. Result would be better health coverage”.
Do we have any proof this is Ryan’s proposal?
Btw, why would Ryan be so enthusiastic about this, anyway? That makes me suspicious.
It's already happening.
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