Bush to Propose Changes in Medicare Plan

The New York Times ^ | 01/03/03 | ROBERT PEAR

[Free the USA]

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/bump-list

[friendly]

Tort reform is essential before John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and the rest of the lawyer Orcs destroy the world of men.

[gas_dr]

Tort reform is a great idea, but this is also the first welcome news I have seen on the medicare front. Just so you all know, the current medicare system is paying anesthesiologists about $60.00 and hour for anesthesia services. Last time i checked, lowayers are going for $200.00 and hour. And John Kerry thinks he is fighting for the average guy...gimme a break.

[second_half_recovery]

So, if big-government America is transformed into corporatist America, are we really better off?

[friendly]

Medicare is seeing lots and lots of docs simply unable to take any new elderly patients. How in God's name can you run a business with free fall income decline (Medicare brain dead rigid income deflation), cost of business increasing, and lawyer extortion, oops I meant malpractice insurance, blasting into the stratosphere?

Hey, we will all age eventually into the tender mercies of this half *ss Medicare system. Dubya PLEASE help!

[Timesink]

Tort reform is essential before John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and the rest of the lawyer Orcs destroy the world of men.

Only on FR could tort reform be seen as part of a RAT plot.

[friendly]

??? (I don't get it) ???

[crasher]

This is a bold and very smart move, I think.

[basil]

I have recently aged into the "tender mercies of this half *ss Medicare System. Talk about your basic red tape--government files on you, government telling doctors what they can and cannot prescribe, etc etc! It is embarrassing to me to have to pull out that damn Medicare Card every time I need to see a doctor. It makes me feel like a welfare recipient or something!

I do not want the government paying for my prescriptions. In fact, I would vastly prefer that the gummit keep the hell out of my medical care, period---I absolutely HATE that this has been forced on all of us. It's gotten so bad that people over 65 can't pay for private insurance even when they want to, as the insurance companies aren't interested in insuring you!

[Torie]

The element missing here seems to be means testing. Price maintenance should be done by those that can afford it, or otherwise I can see poltical shoals in every direction, putting aside what is the "perfect" public policy. But a market based price maintenance mechanism is critical. Without it, the sky is the limit on price for medical services with hundreds of billions of federal dollars rolling around, absent price controls or socialization, both of which have problems, not the least of which is the truncating of medical research that is privately funded. The one thing I do know is that this issue is so complex, any opinions I have are near worthless. Awareness of ignorance is the first step to knowledge.

[friendly]

Good luck in Medicare land. Keep healthy. Rest, exercise, and pray.

[sam_paine]

"It could shift costs to individual beneficiaries so that people with the greatest medical needs pay the most for their health care," Ms. Gottlich said.

OH GOD!! Horror of HORRORS!!! That would be utterly frightening! And eventually, what if all things on the planet that were more expensive, were higher priced ?!?!?!?! Novel! I hear Gabriel's trumpet... (end sarcasm)

[sam_paine]

So, if big-government America is transformed into corporatist America, are we really better off?

I'll play your silly little game: SURVEY SAYS.....YES.

[Timesink]

I think I may have misunderstood your post. Comment withdrawn. :)

[TLBSHOW]

"If the price of a prescription drug benefit is the end of Medicare as we know it, that's not a price worth paying," said Debbie Curtis, chief of staff to Representative Pete Stark, Democrat of California.

Look a rat attacks already!

[Fred Mertz]

They say they need immediate help and cannot wait for Congress to act on prescription drug benefits.

This news is disappointing. Since when does the gummint get off involving prescription medicine? Whatever the gummint touches, the price triples.

I'm sure Hitlery will have her own solution for us little people.