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Previously a lifelong Democrat, born in New York and living in New England, surrounded by liberals on all sides, I've found myself slowly but surely 
December 15th, 2011 at 9:46 pm
The link doesn’t quite go to the article.
It would be wonderful news if something like this could pass; I imagine our AAA rating would be back almost immediately. Therefore, I give it zero chance of passing.
December 15th, 2011 at 9:58 pm
I like Ryan’s attitude and realize he is going slow with ‘reform’ by taking baby steps until a political consensus can be built, with public backing, to truly address major overhaul of this entitlement that is set to eat up the federal budget within 10 years; but no one should believe this is a fix for what ails medicare. It is a bandaid. As we baby boomers enter the medicare generation we are going to break the bank unless truly significant steps are taken to bring expenditures in line with receipts.
But why worry, Obamacare will bring free healthcare and unicorns come 2014.
December 15th, 2011 at 11:44 pm
The plan is so mild (no changes until 2022), who could oppose it?
Obama and his humped up and ready to poop supporters.
December 16th, 2011 at 1:06 am
As a Medicare recipient, I can say the program needs to be fixed. Last year my wife had major surgery for cancer. The bill was $30,000+. Medicare paid $6500. We paid $350. My question is, “Who pays the $23,150 difference?” This is the problem. Is the hospital is overbilling in hopes of getting a higher payout? Is Medicare underpaying by a ridiculous margin? And if they are underpayimg so much, why is the program still costing so much? All I know is that nothing adds up in my mind. We want and need the medical care, but we don’t want to be part of a national fiscal crisis. Yet we are.
The problem is that most old codgers will at one time or another need expensive (or a lot more expensive) medical care like that, not to mention just the maintenance – Physicals, shots, medications, etc. We pay a Medicare premium of $1200/year each. Plus we each have a $350 deductible each/year. So we pay $1550 each/year for whatever medical care we need. That’s a pretty good deal. What will it cost to buy a policy in the competitive market? I’m guessing it will be more and you may be able to choose bigger deductibles. It will certainly make people think twice about their medical care and what it costs. Maybe more people will take better care of themselves. Smokers, drinkers, and non-exercisers tend to need more medical care as they age.
It is a huge problem and something needs to be done. I hope this proposal will have merit and will be acceptable to reasonable people. We need to do something and quit the demagoguery. It represents a $62 trillion future promise that can’t be paid. Yet, the dems act like all is well. I don’t agree.
December 16th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
JJ formerly,
When I was growing up in rural Iowa the ‘country doctor’ was a former doctor in the Wehrmacht who was allowed to immigrate to the USA. He was a GP, but he also performed surgery at hospital in a larger nearby town. He made home visits and did all those things you probably remember from your youth. If you needed his services but couldn’t pay up front with cash he still served you to the best of his ability and agreed to take payment either for a few dollars at a time spread over many months or by barter. When we had need of his care we traded eggs and home slaughtered meat as payment if we didn’t have the necessary cash. Yet, he was the wealthiest man around and no one begrudged his status because he treated everyone fairly without concern for earning more than the market could bear.
Granted, medical care has become much more complex and sophisticated since then, but the concept should (IMO) remain the same. What has happened IMO is government has skewed the health care market and additionally there are too few doctors, including specialists, which prevents competition.
December 16th, 2011 at 11:07 pm
Parker,
Your country doctor was pretty much the standard of my youth. I think I can pin point when it went awry. Medicare began in 1965. By 1972 hospitals in Colorado were adding beds and space because of the “new market” – Medicare patients who were receiving treatments that had not been sought before. A good thing for those who got the treatment, but it changed medicine from a service industry into a “growth” industry.
Then in 1986 this happened: “The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)[1] is a U.S. Act of Congress passed in 1986 as part of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). It requires hospitals to provide care to anyone needing emergency healthcare treatment regardless of citizenship, legal status or ability to pay. There are no reimbursement provisions.” This completely changed the business model. Now the hospitals had to charge all they could get to recoup the costs of all the free treatment they were rendering. Prices had to be raised far above the rate of price inflation because that is what they needed to do to make ends meet. And so it goes. Not to mention all the fraud and abuse that occurs in Medicare. Another example of government intervention in the market creating unintended consequences. A similar thing has happened in higher education. When will we learn, heh?
December 17th, 2011 at 1:40 am
“When will we learn, heh?”
We will learn only when we are compelled to learn but the harsh dictate of reality.
December 17th, 2011 at 1:43 am
Not but but by.
December 17th, 2011 at 10:08 am
I’m not sure why people shouldn’t be required to prepare for their own expensive care at the end of their life. They prepare for everything else. Medicare should be charity, nothing more. And the insurance model doesn’t really work for older people at a certain point; the likelihood of something bad/expensive happening approach 100% as you near death. So it’s just payment for care that’s needed, not insurance. Who should pay?