RYAN VS. OBAMA ON MEDICARE
Here are the right and left wing approaches to medicare. It is very interesting to see how they differ.
RYAN'S STANCE
The following is taken from Paul Ryan's official website. http://paulryan.house.gov/issues/issue/?IssueID=9969
"Medicare
is the cornerstone on which all other government health programs
rest. Unfortunately, the deteriorating financial conditions of
this program are threatening beneficiary access to its benefits.
In their most recent report, the Medicare Trustees projected that the
account that funds Medicare’s hospital benefit will go bankrupt in
2024. Reports like this illustrate that we can no longer let
politicians in Washington deny the danger to Medicare – it is all
too real, and the health of our nation’s seniors is far too
important. We have to save Medicare to avoid disruptions in benefits
for current seniors and to strengthen the program for future
generations.
The
President’s Health Care Law
On
March 25, 2010, a Democrat controlled Congress passed the President’s
new health care law which fundamentally realigns our nation’s
health care system. This massive health care overhaul will exacerbate
the very problems this reform effort sought to address. It will
dramatically alter our deteriorating economic and fiscal conditions
for the worse and may irrevocably impair the American identity.
Sky-rocketing
health care costs are drowning families, businesses and governments
in red ink—leaving millions priced out of the market and without
coverage. This law—with its maze of mandates, dictates, controls,
tax hikes and subsidies—pushes costs further in the wrong
direction. It initiates a government takeover of the health care
sector (17% of the U.S. economy), intrudes in the doctor-patient
relationship, and increases total spending by almost $2.6 trillion.
The law relies on 10 years of tax increases and 10 years of Medicare
cuts to pay for six years of new spending. Moreover, it raids
over $700 billion from Medicare to finance a new open ended
entitlement. All told, this law will dramatically add to an
already unsustainable rate of government spending growth that will
overwhelm the Federal budget and will dramatically change the way
Americans get health care.
The
health care law will have significant and serious consequences on the
sustainability of Medicare and access to medical care. Before the
bill’s enactment, the Medicare program was already on an
unsustainable path. According to the most recent Medicare Trustee’s
report, the Medicare program will be insolvent by 2024 —meaning
Medicare will have exhausted the assets in its Hospital Insurance
trust fund. Instead of reforming this important program so that
current beneficiaries will not see a disruption in their services and
future generations will be able to plan their retirement around
Medicare’s assistance—as I have been advocating for several
years—the health care law treats Medicare like a piggy bank.
Instead
of promoting real competition – which would moderate costs
naturally—the law nationalizes the regulation of health insurance
premiums. This will lead to shortages and rationing. Waiting
times will replace prices as a means of balancing limited supply and
higher demand. Quality will decline as consumers begin facing
restricted access to the full range of treatment options. Greater
government regulation also will limit incentives for medical
innovation.
Yet,
despite all the new spending and all the increased taxes, supporters
of this law argue that it will actually reduce our current deficit
levels. However, the fiscal arguments just do not add up. The only
way reduce the deficit, while at the same time having the government
pick up the tab for more than 30 million uninsured Americans and
subsidize millions more is through the use of smoke and mirrors.
Medicare
Reimbursements for Physicians
Medicare
reimburses health care providers for various procedures they
perform. These reimbursements are made according to a fee
schedule, which is updated annually by a formula called the
Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR). If spending exceeds the
established targets, payment rates to providers are cut; if spending
is below the target, payment rates are increased. The intent of
the formula is to place a restraint on overall increases in Medicare
spending for physicians’ services.
Since
2003, Congress has chosen to override current law in order to prevent
reimbursements from being cut as a result of the formula. On
December 23, 2011, the House and Senate approved legislation that
would provide, among several provisions, a two month delay in the
scheduled cuts in physicians’ Medicare reimbursements that would
have taken place on January 1st due
to the flawed SGR formula. On February 16, 2012, Congress
extended the delay through December 31, 2012. However, since
the law only provides a temporary patch to the more than 30% cut,
Congress must address the issue again before the end of the year.
Rather
than passing temporary fixes, I would prefer to address the more
important matter of wholesale reform to the Medicare reimbursement
system. Physicians should not have to wait on Congress to act
every year in order to prevent pay cuts that are arbitrarily
determined by an outdated formula. Fundamental reforms to Medicare
and our broken health care system are urgently needed, and I will
continue to push my colleagues to take on this challenge.
Path
to Prosperity
Medicare’s
structural imbalance threatens beneficiaries’ access to quality,
affordable care. Currently, Medicare reimburses health care
providers for services, creating a perverse incentive to order more
tests and perform more services than may be necessary as a way to
maximize one’s share of the program. By basing payment on
volume, not quality, costs rise and efficiency is reduced.
Ultimately, this flaw in the structure of the program is driving up
health care costs, which are, in turn, threatening to bankrupt the
system – and ultimately the nation.
Unless
Congress fixes what’s broken in Medicare, without breaking what’s
working, the program will end up causing exactly what it was created
to avoid – millions of American seniors without adequate health
security and a younger working generation saddled with enormous debts
to pay for spending levels that cannot be sustained.
It
is morally unconscionable for elected leaders to cling to an
unsustainable status quo with respect to America’s health and
retirement security programs. Current seniors and future generations
deserve better than empty promises and a diminished country. Current
retirees deserve the benefits around which they organized their
lives. Future generations deserve health and retirement security they
can count on. By making gradual structural improvements, Congress can
preserve America’s social contract with retired workers.
Recognizing
the problems facing Medicare, the House-passed Budget:
Strengthens
health and retirement security by taking power away from government."
RYAN VS. OBAMA ON MEDICARE
Here are the right and left wing approaches to medicare. It is very interesting to see how they differ.
RYAN'S STANCE
The following is taken from Paul Ryan's official website. http://paulryan.house.gov/issues/issue/?IssueID=9969
"Medicare
is the cornerstone on which all other government health programs
rest. Unfortunately, the deteriorating financial conditions of
this program are threatening beneficiary access to its benefits.
In their most recent report, the Medicare Trustees projected that the
account that funds Medicare’s hospital benefit will go bankrupt in
2024. Reports like this illustrate that we can no longer let
politicians in Washington deny the danger to Medicare – it is all
too real, and the health of our nation’s seniors is far too
important. We have to save Medicare to avoid disruptions in benefits
for current seniors and to strengthen the program for future
generations.
The
President’s Health Care Law
On
March 25, 2010, a Democrat controlled Congress passed the President’s
new health care law which fundamentally realigns our nation’s
health care system. This massive health care overhaul will exacerbate
the very problems this reform effort sought to address. It will
dramatically alter our deteriorating economic and fiscal conditions
for the worse and may irrevocably impair the American identity.
Sky-rocketing
health care costs are drowning families, businesses and governments
in red ink—leaving millions priced out of the market and without
coverage. This law—with its maze of mandates, dictates, controls,
tax hikes and subsidies—pushes costs further in the wrong
direction. It initiates a government takeover of the health care
sector (17% of the U.S. economy), intrudes in the doctor-patient
relationship, and increases total spending by almost $2.6 trillion.
The law relies on 10 years of tax increases and 10 years of Medicare
cuts to pay for six years of new spending. Moreover, it raids
over $700 billion from Medicare to finance a new open ended
entitlement. All told, this law will dramatically add to an
already unsustainable rate of government spending growth that will
overwhelm the Federal budget and will dramatically change the way
Americans get health care.
The
health care law will have significant and serious consequences on the
sustainability of Medicare and access to medical care. Before the
bill’s enactment, the Medicare program was already on an
unsustainable path. According to the most recent Medicare Trustee’s
report, the Medicare program will be insolvent by 2024 —meaning
Medicare will have exhausted the assets in its Hospital Insurance
trust fund. Instead of reforming this important program so that
current beneficiaries will not see a disruption in their services and
future generations will be able to plan their retirement around
Medicare’s assistance—as I have been advocating for several
years—the health care law treats Medicare like a piggy bank.
Instead
of promoting real competition – which would moderate costs
naturally—the law nationalizes the regulation of health insurance
premiums. This will lead to shortages and rationing. Waiting
times will replace prices as a means of balancing limited supply and
higher demand. Quality will decline as consumers begin facing
restricted access to the full range of treatment options. Greater
government regulation also will limit incentives for medical
innovation.
Yet,
despite all the new spending and all the increased taxes, supporters
of this law argue that it will actually reduce our current deficit
levels. However, the fiscal arguments just do not add up. The only
way reduce the deficit, while at the same time having the government
pick up the tab for more than 30 million uninsured Americans and
subsidize millions more is through the use of smoke and mirrors.
Medicare
Reimbursements for Physicians
Medicare
reimburses health care providers for various procedures they
perform. These reimbursements are made according to a fee
schedule, which is updated annually by a formula called the
Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR). If spending exceeds the
established targets, payment rates to providers are cut; if spending
is below the target, payment rates are increased. The intent of
the formula is to place a restraint on overall increases in Medicare
spending for physicians’ services.
Since
2003, Congress has chosen to override current law in order to prevent
reimbursements from being cut as a result of the formula. On
December 23, 2011, the House and Senate approved legislation that
would provide, among several provisions, a two month delay in the
scheduled cuts in physicians’ Medicare reimbursements that would
have taken place on January 1st due
to the flawed SGR formula. On February 16, 2012, Congress
extended the delay through December 31, 2012. However, since
the law only provides a temporary patch to the more than 30% cut,
Congress must address the issue again before the end of the year.
Rather
than passing temporary fixes, I would prefer to address the more
important matter of wholesale reform to the Medicare reimbursement
system. Physicians should not have to wait on Congress to act
every year in order to prevent pay cuts that are arbitrarily
determined by an outdated formula. Fundamental reforms to Medicare
and our broken health care system are urgently needed, and I will
continue to push my colleagues to take on this challenge.
Path
to Prosperity
Medicare’s
structural imbalance threatens beneficiaries’ access to quality,
affordable care. Currently, Medicare reimburses health care
providers for services, creating a perverse incentive to order more
tests and perform more services than may be necessary as a way to
maximize one’s share of the program. By basing payment on
volume, not quality, costs rise and efficiency is reduced.
Ultimately, this flaw in the structure of the program is driving up
health care costs, which are, in turn, threatening to bankrupt the
system – and ultimately the nation.
Unless
Congress fixes what’s broken in Medicare, without breaking what’s
working, the program will end up causing exactly what it was created
to avoid – millions of American seniors without adequate health
security and a younger working generation saddled with enormous debts
to pay for spending levels that cannot be sustained.
It
is morally unconscionable for elected leaders to cling to an
unsustainable status quo with respect to America’s health and
retirement security programs. Current seniors and future generations
deserve better than empty promises and a diminished country. Current
retirees deserve the benefits around which they organized their
lives. Future generations deserve health and retirement security they
can count on. By making gradual structural improvements, Congress can
preserve America’s social contract with retired workers.
Recognizing
the problems facing Medicare, the House-passed Budget:
Strengthens
health and retirement security by taking power away from government."
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