Image via WikipediaPresident Obama has started his re-election campaign and is out and about and harping about the Republicans and how their budget proposals are “bad” for Americans.
He is mainly going to target MEDICARE and how the Republicans want to eliminate it as we know it.
Do not confuse Medicare with Social Security which is an “old age retirement” pension program that is based on your lifetime earnings and kicks in at 67 (for me) but will be moved up to an older age as we live and work longer.
Medicare, which was enacted in my lifetime, came on board in 1965 under the ole’ war on poverty guy, Lyndon B. Johnson and was designed as healthcare for the elderly. It kicks in at age 65 and is financed as subtractions from the employee's Social Security monthly payments.
For many people, Medicare pays out a lot more for an individual’s healthcare expenses than an individual has contributed through his working career… so it is a good deal.
The fact that many people absolutely depend on this coverage or will depend on it in their retirement years makes it a “sacred cow” issue meaning “don’t mess with my retirement benefits”. And this is what Obama is counting on; that voters will not stand for anyone messing with the issue like the Republicans are proposing to do.
I consider this to be an unfair charge because previous administrations (Democratic and Republican) did not have the political balls to take on this most sacred of issues while knowing full well that it MUST be addressed sooner or later or it will collapse under its own weight; yes, Obama is playing politics with the issue.
The problem with Medicare is that it is an unsustainable expense that keeps increasing every year and the retirement of the baby boomers (largest single generation to retire all at once in history) will overwhelm the plan and collapse it.
One huge expense in the Medicare system is FRAUD. I have worked within the medical industry for over 30 years and know full well how people enrich themselves illegally by manipulating the system for billions and billions of dollars. Even today you hear of people getting arrested for defrauding Medicare for millions but those getting caught represent only 1% of those actively defrauding the system.
Our government is stupid and cannot police itself; government workers don’t give a shit as I have mentioned before…remember public unions…its not my money…actually it is because it’s the taxpayer’s money.
The Republicans are proposing giving people who are 65 or older a money voucher to go find and pay for their own elderly health insurance. My mother (89) has Medicare Plus and belongs to the Henry Ford HAP system. The care is fantastic and she has very little out of pocket expenses. HAP is private and makes sure it offers the best of care but also makes a profit; something the government does not.
People not participating in a Medicare Plus Plan like my mother go to doctors and clinics that accept Medicare as health insurance. The physician / clinic perform medical procedures on the elderly patient and then bill the government (Medicare) for those services; the government here is acting like an insurance company.
The problem with this plan is that Medicare does not control the care given; all it does is pay and is at the mercy of the people that submit bills to it, in some cases fraudulently. This would disappear if the elderly patient bought a private insurance plan that would take care of his or her medical needs while trying to operate at peak efficiency so as to make a profit…get it?
I can see that this will be a ticklish issue and the Republicans will have a hell of a time explaining it, especially to the elderly – hell I am having a hard time making it simple but you have to start somewhere and not just kick the can down the road.
The reality on the ground today is that people will support increasing taxes on the rich but will not support messing with their entitlements...
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