Ryan's Medicare plan

Obama frequently attacks Ryan's Medicare plan -- but is he correct?
By Jim Angle
Published August 22, 2012
FoxNews.com

Aug. 22, 2012: Republican vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., speaks during a campaign event at SMT, Inc. in Raleigh, N.C.

Though the Medicare plan proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan has bipartisan support, the Obama campaign went after it early and often after Ryan was selected as Mitt Romney's running mate.

President Obama ripped into the plan before a crowd in Rochester, N.H., last weekend.

"Their plan would shorten the life of Medicare and end Medicare as we know it, because they'd turn it into a voucher system," he said.

At another stop, in Windham, N.H., he repeated the assertions, adding that it would be "a plan in which you could not count on health care because it would have to be coming out of your pocket."

Actually, the Ryan plan would affect no one who today is 55 or older. Then, in 2023, private insurers could bid for seniors' health insurance alongside traditional Medicare.

Ryan's plan would offer federal money to cover premiums equal to the second lowest bidder -- an amount updated every year -- meaning seniors would always have at least two choices of plans at no cost.

“A senior would have the option of taking that plan, taking a cheaper plan and pocketing some of the savings, or taking a more expensive plan and paying the difference,” senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute Avik Roy said.

"It's not going to be an entirely different structure," Jim Capretta of the Ethics and Public Policy Center said. "It's going to be very much building upon things that are already there."

In part, because the plans would have to offer the same benefits Medicare does, and because private insurers already provide plans to one in four Medicare recipients -- something called Medicare Advantage -- they're attractive because they cover more than regular Medicare, avoiding the cost of supplemental plans called Medigap.

"They often will sign up for a Medicare Advantage plan because they get more comprehensive coverage without the need for a second plan," Capretta said.

He added that many of the same advantages are in the Ryan plan.

Nevertheless, Obama told a group in East Davenport, Iowa, last week that seniors would get stuck with the bill if they choose to opt out of Medicare.

"They'd get a voucher to buy private insurance," he said. "And if it doesn't keep up with costs, well, that's the seniors' problem."

The Congressional Budget Office couldn't quantify the savings from competition in an earlier Ryan plan, so it assumed the cost of private plans would increase as much as health care generally, while the premium support was to be fixed.

So Ryan changed the plan -- so much so that it's now co-sponsored by liberal Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, who believes the current system is doomed to fail.

In an interview with Fox News about his embracing of the Ryan plan, Wyden predicts "a steady diet of benefit reductions for senior citizens and cost shifting."

"That will all take place until the Medicare guarantee is threatened, and I'm just not going to sit by and let that happen," he said.

"The whole idea is that this competitive process would lead to cheaper insurance for seniors at the same level of benefits that they currently enjoy," Roy said.

Since Medicare has promised tens of trillions of dollars more in benefits that it can possibly pay for, Ryan and Wyden argue it must be changed in order to survive.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/22/obama-campaign-attacks-ryan-medicare-plan-early-frequently/#ixzz24N4KMISI

Medicare Rant

Medicare Rant

Dear Congressman Doggett,

My tax preparer told me yesterday that with FHA mortgage, we now have to buy “mortgage insurance”. Excuse my language, but wtf?

Sir, we’re barely hanging on. PLEASE get this repealed! Not just for us, but for the many thousands of FHA mortgage holders out there.

2)

Also, and this is critical to so many people with various ailments, the news about the cancer medication Methotrexate (childhood Leukemia medication) which is in “shortage”...nonsense! It’s being held up in production because it’s inexpensive, and any day now the FDA and pharmaceutical companies will roll out an “improved” version or new drug, at huge expense—believe me on this. Meanwhile, this particular drug absence will surely cause death for many, mostly children.

I’m an RN, I’ve watched how suddenly there were ads on TV for cervical cancer...and I told my husband, watch, they’ll have a vaccine out in about a month. Lo and Behold, I was right. Suddenly there’s a new medication for gout which I’m sure is quite expensive, the old medication Allopurinol works just fine, is not dangerous and is cheap!

Same for quinine—quinine is nearly harmless, yet suddenly after using quinine for several centuries that I’m aware of, it’s labeled “a dangerous drug.” Nonsense!

Someone needs to hold both pharmaceutical companies AND the FDA accountable. This is so ridiculously wrong it borders on evil.


3)

Lastly, Medicare. Do you know that this wretched organization (from an RN perspective) has forced nurses to collect what’s known as Oasis data on everyone over the age of 16. It’s 80 some odd questions. This nonsense has been going on since I started nursing in 1993, without any compensation to nurses, I might add.

Do you know in Home Health, the gathering of Oasis data alone, takes more than an hour of time, sometimes MUCH longer depending on patients condition, family interference (I mean that in a kind way), and whether or not the patient is a good historian. It’s exhausting for both patient and nurse.

Oasis data has been gathering this information so Medicare can pigeon hole “disease processes”. Unfortunately it’s rare a patient fits into their model. For example, a patient with Congestive Heart Failure or CHF, is now allowed only 3 visits to the hospital for treatment under Medicare. The 4th trip will be charged to the patient. I do understand, and probably most nurses teach our patients how to manage their care by calling their doctor when they have a sudden weight gain—an obvious signature trait of CHF. However, other problems aren’t so easily controlled or obvious.

Medicare is just wrong to place the burden of this Oasis nonsense on nurses, it’s not only on admission, but if the patient has a stay in the hospital for longer than 24 hours, we have to do an ENTIRE Oasis admission, this is absurd and a waste of time, as 90% of the information isn’t going to change in most cases. Then every 8 weeks we have to “recertify” the patient, which takes roughly the same amount of time as the admission process. It’s insane. Nurses are leaving the profession in droves.

So if you or one of your colleagues is looking at Medicare waste and fraud—they should start with Medicare itself!

Thanks for letting me rant,

Seniors To Sue Medicare Over Right To Pay

This might be an old post but it goes with the blog following this one. Medicare has made it illegal for holders of Medicare to pay for health care with their own money. This situation arises because many doctors have chosen to not accept new Medicare patients, and Medicare has made it illegal to pay with cash.

3 seniors suing Medicare for right to pay for their own health care.

This letter was forwarded to me by a friend; the information came from the Cato Institute. Phone and contact information are below:

"Norm Rogers, Brian Hall and I are filing suit against the Medicare bureaucracy, in an attempt to establish our constitutional right to pay for our own health care with our own money. The attached "Appeal" explains what we are up to in less than one page.

The three of us lack the resources to fund this project by ourselves.

So we have established a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, the "Fund for Personal Liberty", to receive tax-deductible donations from the public and help us with the expenses of our lawsuit.

Please consider making a donation. Even if this isn't a high priority on your list of philanthropies, we would appreciate contributions of any size. The authorities like to see widespread support for cases like this, as well as large contributions. We would also appreciate it if you passed this email along to others who might be interested and willing to help.

Thank you for your consideration of our appeal. Please send your contribution to:

Fund for Personal Liberty

c/o Webster Chamberlain & Bean

1747 Pennsylvania Ave., Suite 1000

Washington, DC 20006

Yours truly, Lew Randall

P. S. Please feel free to call, write, or email me with any questions you may have. More detailed information is available if you are interested. -- LR

--

Lewis E. Randall

5147 S. Bercot Road, Freeland, WA 98249, USA

(360) 331-5998 home, (360) 331-5941 office,

(360) 331-5938 fax, (206) 715-4609 cell

Cato Institute

1000 Massachusetts Avenue NW

Washington, DC 20001

Doctors Refusing Medicare

Today I called a local doctor for an appointment. The receptionist asked what insurance do I have. I said 'Medicare.' She said, 'I am sorry, we are not accepting new patients with Medicare.' I said, 'That's OK, I will pay cash.' She said, 'I am sorry we cannot accept cash from people with Medicare.' I said, 'I am confused, you cannot take Medicare OR accept cash?' She said, 'That's right, we have a contract with Medicare and it would be illegal to accept cash from people with Medicare .'

So, this tells me it is worse to have Medicare than to have nothing at all.

Doctors Limit New Medicare Patients
Updated 6/21/2010 8:04 AM

By Richard Wolf, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — The number of doctors refusing new Medicare patients because of low government payment rates is setting a new high, just six months before millions of Baby Boomers begin enrolling in the government health care program.
Recent surveys by national and state medical societies have found more doctors limiting Medicare patients, partly because Congress has failed to stop an automatic 21% cut in payments that doctors already regard as too low. The cut went into effect Friday, even as the Senate approved a six-month reprieve. The House has approved a different bill.

• The American Academy of Family Physicians says 13% of respondents didn't participate in Medicare last year, up from 8% in 2008 and 6% in 2004.

• The American Osteopathic Association says 15% of its members don't participate in Medicare and 19% don't accept new Medicare patients. If the cut is not reversed, it says, the numbers will double.

• The American Medical Association says 17% of more than 9,000 doctors surveyed restrict the number of Medicare patients in their practice. Among primary care physicians, the rate is 31%.

The federal health insurance program for seniors paid doctors on average 78% of what private insurers paid in 2008.

"Physicians are saying, 'I can't afford to keep losing money,' " says Lori Heim, president of the family doctors' group.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says 97% of doctors accept Medicare. The agency doesn't know how many have refused to take new Medicare patients, Deputy Administrator Jonathan Blum says. "Medicare beneficiaries have good access to physician services. We do have concerns about access to primary care physicians."

The AARP, the nation's largest consumer group representing seniors, is taking notice. Some U.S. areas already face a shortage of primary care physicians. Policy director John Rother says the trend away from Medicare threatens to make it worse.

States are starting to see a flight from Medicare:

•In Illinois, 18% of doctors restrict the number of Medicare patients in their practice, according to a medical society survey.

•In North Carolina, 117 doctors have opted out of Medicare since January, the state's medical society says.

•In New York, about 1,100 doctors have left Medicare. Even the medical society president isn't taking new Medicare patients.

"I'm making a statement," says Leah McCormack, a New York City dermatologist. "Many physicians are really being forced out of private practice."

Florida has the highest percentage of Medicare patients, and most doctors can't afford to leave the program. But "the level of frustration has been higher this year than I've ever seen it before," says Linda McMullen of the Florida Medical Association.

Thanks, Mister Obama!

Here is MORE Change You Can Believe In

In September 2010 the Department Of Health And Human Services sent out letters to all who receive help with prescription drugs. The letter bluntly states that as of January 1, 2011 the amount of help one receives will be cut and that means the cost of that person's prescription drugs will double.

This is the Obama health care plan, to rip out the hearts of the indigent and feed them to the wealthy, campaign contributing, pharmaceutical industry billionaires.

Every individual on Medicare will experience this to some extent and many will be living on dog food again. There is probably going to be a major crime wave because of the food stamp cut already in place and many seniors that also get food stamps are now in double jeopardy. My home health nurse friend has been warning people of this for about 10 years now.

So, Thanks Mister Obama, for more of the same damned lies and deceit we have been hearing for so many years. Here is but one of dozens of scathing articles outlining the President's 'budget cuts to pay for reform' (that actually makes no sense) READ THE ARTICLE.