Wehrwolfen
Senior Member
- May 22, 2012
- 2,750
- 340
Doug Ross:
3 Mar 13
Conservatives have warned of this scenario since the cluster known as Obamacare was rammed through Congress in 2010. For a demagogue who continually hectors Americans about fairness, it is indeed ironic that those who paid into Medicare are having their benefits slashed in order to subsidize those whove contributed nothing. We call that unfair.
[It loves to talk about the Sequester, but] the Obama administration doesnt want to talk about its own devastating cuts in Medicare. On Friday, February 15, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced $716 billion in cuts over the next ten years. Instead of being put toward the debt, most of the money will go toward a new entitlement: Obamacares vast expansion of coverage for the uninsured.
Where Obama is cutting is telling. At least half of the savings will come out of Medicare Advantage, under which a full 28 percent of seniors buy privately managed health insurance that often includes added benefits such as vision and dental care or chronic-illness management. In exchange, patients agree to stay within a medical network, which helps insurance companies manage their costs. The program is most popular with Hispanics and African Americans. A study by CMS found that 38 percent of Hispanics and 31 percent of African Americans on Medicare were enrolled in Medicare Advantage, compared with 27 percent of whites
To add cynicism to injury, the Obama administration postponed the Medicare Advantage cuts until after the 2012 election, using a slush fund to tide the program over and conceal the true costs of Obamacare to seniors.
The cuts are so much larger than expected that health-care stocks tanked across the board after they were announced. Managed-care analyst Carl McDonald told clients in an e-mail that Obamacares reducing payments to private-plan providers would turn almost every plan in the industry unprofitable. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the payment cuts will result in an enrollment drop of 3 million for Medicare Advantage.
Read more
Doug Ross @ Journal: IT'S OFFICIAL: Seniors who paid into Medicare see benefits slashed to pay for those who haven't contributed a nickel
3 Mar 13
Conservatives have warned of this scenario since the cluster known as Obamacare was rammed through Congress in 2010. For a demagogue who continually hectors Americans about fairness, it is indeed ironic that those who paid into Medicare are having their benefits slashed in order to subsidize those whove contributed nothing. We call that unfair.
[It loves to talk about the Sequester, but] the Obama administration doesnt want to talk about its own devastating cuts in Medicare. On Friday, February 15, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced $716 billion in cuts over the next ten years. Instead of being put toward the debt, most of the money will go toward a new entitlement: Obamacares vast expansion of coverage for the uninsured.
Where Obama is cutting is telling. At least half of the savings will come out of Medicare Advantage, under which a full 28 percent of seniors buy privately managed health insurance that often includes added benefits such as vision and dental care or chronic-illness management. In exchange, patients agree to stay within a medical network, which helps insurance companies manage their costs. The program is most popular with Hispanics and African Americans. A study by CMS found that 38 percent of Hispanics and 31 percent of African Americans on Medicare were enrolled in Medicare Advantage, compared with 27 percent of whites
To add cynicism to injury, the Obama administration postponed the Medicare Advantage cuts until after the 2012 election, using a slush fund to tide the program over and conceal the true costs of Obamacare to seniors.
The cuts are so much larger than expected that health-care stocks tanked across the board after they were announced. Managed-care analyst Carl McDonald told clients in an e-mail that Obamacares reducing payments to private-plan providers would turn almost every plan in the industry unprofitable. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the payment cuts will result in an enrollment drop of 3 million for Medicare Advantage.
Read more
Doug Ross @ Journal: IT'S OFFICIAL: Seniors who paid into Medicare see benefits slashed to pay for those who haven't contributed a nickel