Saturday, August 18, 2012

The Medicare Debate. Is anyone afraid of the truth? Not from where I stand.

I question the wisdom in making changes until there is a reasonable Congress to write legislation, though. We don't need extremism. 

The nation has to have a conversation about Medicare, but, I sincerely believe it has to come from the professionals at the center of the debate. If they don't chime in and propose an answer; one the USA can reasonably provide; they will be left out of the answer all together. That would be very sad, to the professionals in medicine and to the patients seeking medical care.

The lack of a sincere answer to the Medicare issue, would provide a higher number of uninsured that would hasten their death.

Besides being a medical issue facing our most vulnerable, it is also a family issue. The cost of taking care of the elderly will fall to families if this support network fails. Again, a failure of Medicare will cause an economic recession as families seek to find ways to provide for their loved ones. The market place will suffer if there is a failure of this program.

The Medicare Program (click title to entry - thank you) is the second-largest social insurance program in the U.S., with 48.7 million beneficiaries and total expenditures of $549 billion in 2011. The Boards of Trustees for Medicare (also Boards) report annually to the Congress on the financial operations and actuarial status of the program. Beginning in 2002, there is one combined report discussing both the Hospital Insurance (Medicare Part A) and the Supplementary Medical Insurance program (Medicare Part B and Prescription Drug Coverage). The Office of the Actuary in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) prepares the report under the direction of the Boards.

The Boards of Trustees issued their most recent report on April 23, 2012....

If Ryan's speech in Florida is indicative of the focus of their race for the Executive Branch of the USA, they aren't serious. Ryan is trying to save his Congressional seat. They are more interested in the House and Senate.  Not to undermine their desire to be President and Vice President, but, they have a stump speech that isn't serious about the issue. We aren't going to get a serious debate. President Obama is has to have a Medicare Summit with the professions. The Summit will have to include the Simpsons - Bowles as a potential for solving the problem.

The nation cannot afford Medicare Advantage. It has spawned considerable waste and fraud. It also provides programs the nation cannot afford. Rather than seeking to lower the cost to the USA Treasury, Medicare Advantage adds programs for Seniors as if they can simply dole out monies with abandon. No. This is USA Treasury monies, it is not simply a grant for spending on every whim a commercial institution believes it can use for marketing.


11/22/2011
Posted by Ezra Klein

...For one thing, (click here) compromising with Obama is compromising with a Democratic president who’s at 44 percent in the polls and at 9 percent among Republicans. No Republican politician can survive that. Compromising on Simpson-Bowles is compromising with two men who have become synonymous with bipartisanship and tough choices and hard decisions and all sorts of other platitudes voters love. And it’s not as if members of Congress haven’t seen this graph:...

When Romney/Ryan gets serious about the real problems of the USA and accepts reassuring the American people means trusting them with the knowledge of their income tax returns, I'll be back.

Presidential Debate Question: "Explain the concerns with Medicare as you understand it. What is the best path forward?"

Have a better day.