Saving Medicare

To the Editor:

When it comes to Medicare and President Obama’s claims, have we been duped?

Medicare is the second largest item in the federal budget. Its costs have more than doubled and will double yet again over the next 20 years. But revenues that pay for it are not keeping pace, leading to its bankruptcy. The Government Accounting Office says without change, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest payments on our national debt will consume our entire federal budget by 2025. To insist that Medicare should remain the same without change is dishonest, delusional, and not possible.

The onerous difference between Obamacare and Congressman Ryan’s Medicare plan is that Obamacare cuts $715 billion from Medicare immediately; of this amount, some $500 billion has already been taken out of Medicare to pay for illegals under Obamacare. Plus Obamacare has the “Independent Payment Advisory Board” consisting of 15 appointed bureaucrats who; ration the treatment available depending on the estimated quality years you may have left. Some of these cuts can be seen in this January’s (2013) doubling of your Medicare payment from $103 to $206 monthly. That amount will increase another 50 percent to a deduction of $309 monthly in January 2014 That’s what will be deducted from your Social Security. Last but not least are fines (taxes) you will be charged for Obamacare, along with the undermining of your religious liberty.

Congressman Ryan’s plan, contrary to what the Obama team claims, would not change anything for seniors currently on Medicare or who go on Medicare for another ten years. And then you will have choices. Ryan’s plan offers future retirees a choice between traditional Medicare and a private insurance plan with vouchers to help pay for the insurance. The amount of the vouchers would be larger for people with lower incomes or larger needs due to existing conditions. More importantly, this is the same choice of plans currently available to every federal employee.

The private insurance plan Ryan proposed is a change from Medicare’s defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan. Over time seniors choosing the private insurance version would have to pay a bigger share of expenses, but benefits would keep up with inflation. Starting ten years from now (2022), Ryan’s plan would gradually cut $800 billion from Medicare spread over ten years. Ryan’s plan, approved by the House of Representatives, would also set up insurance exchanges where the elderly could choose among different plans to suit their needs. Among those favoring such changes is Alice Rivlin of the Brookings Institution, who was President Clinton’s budget director. Testifying before Congress in April, Rivlin said, “The model proposed by Ryan seeks to combine the tools of market competition and cost effective regulation to maximize the chances of improving healthcare for seniors at a sustainable cost.” It will not end Medicare or affect anyone over age 55, but it will save Medicare for generations.

Daniel Kormanik

178 Hanover Road, Newtown                                     August 27, 2012