With the 2012 election just 18 months away, the debate over the future of Medicare has become a hot button between democrats and republications. What is your opinion of Medicare reform and how will it affect how you vote in the upcoming election?
The only answer I have ever had is that the republican's did not want Medicare and did fight it for years now every chance they get they try to disturb it in any way one of them can .I can't except any reason for any one not wanting to better America and on the part of women I think women know them self's better so let them take care and make their own decision's about women stuff that doesn't really have any thing to do with men they know their medical need's more than any one
At the end of the day, when all the political dust settles, the important thing is that we preserve Medicare for those who really need it, and there are plenty out there whose lives depend on it. My single vote will not change who becomes President or which party with dominate the Congress and Senate. Egos and opinions aside, we need care for those who need the care and Medicare does work.We need keep it financially viable somehow and available to our fellow citizens. Its about providing healthcare at the end of the day, not about insurance and not about any diodgy political scheme just delivery of care. Our politics may vary, but we should all be on board with the real issue of a sustainable Medicare
I esp don't like this poly talk and so for 67 days I will not be back. Got more to talk about than politics. So I "changing the channel" so to speak. I get enough pol talk on tv and the newspaper and sure don't need it here. 67 days.
@Alan...you are so right. Obamacare does take 700 billion from Medicare, but it takes it from insurance companies...not seniors or providers. A step in the right direction towards sustainability. The Ryan plan takes from seniors the same amount and it goes to tax cuts for highest incomes. Fact.
sharonmill...good job in explaining the differences in Medicare plans, though I don't think you took it far enough. I've noticed that the voucher program of Ryan's seems to be ignored in discussion. With the Ryan plan future seniors will be given vouchers for a set $$$ amount to be used towards health care. If the senior's actual health care cost exceeds the voucher amount, which is expected, it will come from the senior's pocket. (Not trying to take sides here just giving details. Each person can come to their own conclusions.)
Brandywine...you don't have to "change the channel"...just change the topic or thread that you're reading. If you want to stay away from political debate and talk about health care for seniors instead, then don't come to to this thread but the many others that do talk about health care and not politics. Your contributions towards healthcare are valued.
I have HBP, a pre- existing condition so President Obama's plan best helps me personally and that's all I care about. My vote will be Obama / Biden 2012, It's what's good for me and the hell with the rest of the world!! I am taking on the republican attitude!!
somebody here issued a challenge to post a list about Ryan or Romney. I offer this, only for factual discussion and this one sticks to the issues at hand., FACT CHECK: Ryan takes factual shortcuts in speech By CAL WOODWARD and JACK GILLUM | Associated Press – 1 hr 17 mins ago WASHINGTON (AP) — GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan took some factual shortcuts during the Republican convention when he attacked President Barack Obama's policies on Medicare, the economic stimulus and the budget deficit. His running mate, Mitt Romney, was expected to speak later Thursday in the convention's culmination.
A closer look at some of Ryan's remarks Wednesday at the GOP convention in Tampa, Fla.:
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RYAN: "And the biggest, coldest power play of all in Obamacare came at the expense of the elderly. ... So they just took it all away from Medicare. Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama."
THE FACTS: Ryan's claim ignores the fact that Ryan himself incorporated the same cuts into budgets he steered through the House in the past two years as chairman of its Budget Committee, using the money for deficit reduction. And the cuts do not affect Medicare recipients directly, but rather reduce payments to hospitals, health insurance plans and other service providers.
In addition, Ryan's own plan to remake Medicare would squeeze the program's spending even more than the changes Obama made, shifting future retirees into a system in which they would get a fixed payment to shop for coverage among private insurance plans. Critics charge that would expose the elderly to more out-of-pocket costs.
___
RYAN: "The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and women of this country, were cut out of the deal."
THE FACTS: Ryan himself asked for stimulus funds shortly after Congress approved the $800 billion plan, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Ryan's pleas to federal agencies included letters to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis seeking stimulus grant money for two Wisconsin energy conservation companies.
One of them, the nonprofit Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp., received $20.3 million from the Energy Department to help homes and businesses improve energy efficiency, according to federal records. That company, he said in his letter, would build "sustainable demand for green jobs." Another eventual recipient, the Energy Center of Wisconsin, received about $365,000.
___
RYAN: Said Obama misled people in Ryan's hometown of Janesville, Wis., by making them think a General Motors plant there threatened with closure could be saved. "A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that GM plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: 'I believe that if our government is there to support you ... this plant will be here for another hundred years.' That's what he said in 2008. Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year."
THE FACTS: The plant halted production in December 2008, weeks before Obama took office and well before he enacted a more robust auto industry bailout that rescued GM and Chrysler and allowed the majority of their plants — though not the Janesville facility — to stay in operation. Ryan himself voted for an auto bailout under President George W. Bush that was designed to help GM, but he was a vocal critic of the one pushed through by Obama that has been widely credited with revitalizing both GM and Chrysler.
___
RYAN: Obama "created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way and then did exactly nothing."
THE FACTS: It's true that Obama hasn't heeded his commission's recommendations, but Ryan's not the best one to complain. He was a member of the commission and voted against its final report.
___
Associated Press writers Tom Raum, Andrew Taylor, Henry C. Jackson and Bradley Klapper contributed to this report.
Anyone interested in reading about this columnist's overview of the R plan for Medicare should do an internet search for gop would kill medicare paul krugman
to read his column which appeared in many Sunday papers today
Brandywine...you don't have to "change the channel"...just change the topic or thread that you're reading. If you want to stay away from political debate and talk about health care for seniors instead, then don't come to to this thread but the many others that do talk about health care and not politics. Your contributions towards healthcare are valued.
FACT CHECK: Ryan takes factual shortcuts in speech
By CAL WOODWARD and JACK GILLUM | Associated Press – 1 hr 17 mins ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan took some factual shortcuts during the Republican convention when he attacked President Barack Obama's policies on Medicare, the economic stimulus and the budget deficit. His running mate, Mitt Romney, was expected to speak later Thursday in the convention's culmination.
A closer look at some of Ryan's remarks Wednesday at the GOP convention in Tampa, Fla.:
___
RYAN: "And the biggest, coldest power play of all in Obamacare came at the expense of the elderly. ... So they just took it all away from Medicare. Seven hundred and sixteen billion dollars, funneled out of Medicare by President Obama."
THE FACTS: Ryan's claim ignores the fact that Ryan himself incorporated the same cuts into budgets he steered through the House in the past two years as chairman of its Budget Committee, using the money for deficit reduction. And the cuts do not affect Medicare recipients directly, but rather reduce payments to hospitals, health insurance plans and other service providers.
In addition, Ryan's own plan to remake Medicare would squeeze the program's spending even more than the changes Obama made, shifting future retirees into a system in which they would get a fixed payment to shop for coverage among private insurance plans. Critics charge that would expose the elderly to more out-of-pocket costs.
___
RYAN: "The stimulus was a case of political patronage, corporate welfare and cronyism at their worst. You, the working men and women of this country, were cut out of the deal."
THE FACTS: Ryan himself asked for stimulus funds shortly after Congress approved the $800 billion plan, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Ryan's pleas to federal agencies included letters to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis seeking stimulus grant money for two Wisconsin energy conservation companies.
One of them, the nonprofit Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corp., received $20.3 million from the Energy Department to help homes and businesses improve energy efficiency, according to federal records. That company, he said in his letter, would build "sustainable demand for green jobs." Another eventual recipient, the Energy Center of Wisconsin, received about $365,000.
___
RYAN: Said Obama misled people in Ryan's hometown of Janesville, Wis., by making them think a General Motors plant there threatened with closure could be saved. "A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that GM plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: 'I believe that if our government is there to support you ... this plant will be here for another hundred years.' That's what he said in 2008. Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year."
THE FACTS: The plant halted production in December 2008, weeks before Obama took office and well before he enacted a more robust auto industry bailout that rescued GM and Chrysler and allowed the majority of their plants — though not the Janesville facility — to stay in operation. Ryan himself voted for an auto bailout under President George W. Bush that was designed to help GM, but he was a vocal critic of the one pushed through by Obama that has been widely credited with revitalizing both GM and Chrysler.
___
RYAN: Obama "created a bipartisan debt commission. They came back with an urgent report. He thanked them, sent them on their way and then did exactly nothing."
THE FACTS: It's true that Obama hasn't heeded his commission's recommendations, but Ryan's not the best one to complain. He was a member of the commission and voted against its final report.
___
Associated Press writers Tom Raum, Andrew Taylor, Henry C. Jackson and Bradley Klapper contributed to this report.
gop would kill medicare paul krugman
to read his column which appeared in many Sunday papers today