The GOP’s Medicare Privatization Plan Will Cost Seniors 14,770 A Year

[upstatecajun]

The Republican party may be in for a huge wake up call from their more moderate base if they wholly support Representative Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) plan. In a recent report from the Associated Press,DINESH RAMDE, Paul Ryan is receiving some heavy skepticism by some supporters in regards to his plan to privatize Medicare.

Brian Krutsch has been long one of many automatic votes here for Rep. Paul Ryan. The unemployed warehouse manager, along with a solid majority of other Janesville voters, has helped elect Ryan seven times and watched with pride as he became one of Congress’ leading authorities on the federal budget. But this week, admiration has been tinged with apprehension as one of Ryan’s signature ideas — ending Medicare’s status as a full, guaranteed benefit for senior citizens — suddenly took a step toward reality.

“I think that’s one of the things they should probably leave alone — you know — unless it’s necessary,” Krutsch said as he took a break from reviewing job openings at the Rock County Job Center. “Old people need help with medical bills. There’s too many people under-insured right now — especially people like myself now who don’t have insurance.”

http://www.politicususa.com/en/medicare-privatization-2011

[PSPS]

1. "one of Congress’ leading authorities on the federal budget"

Brian Krutsch has been long one of many automatic votes here for Rep. Paul Ryan. The unemployed warehouse manager, along with a solid majority of other Janesville voters, has helped elect Ryan seven times and watched with pride as he became one of Congress’ leading authorities on the federal budget. But this week, admiration has been tinged with apprehension as one of Ryan’s signature ideas — ending Medicare’s status as a full, guaranteed benefit for senior citizens — suddenly took a step toward reality.

This is what passes for "journalism" today. A guy just makes up numbers out of thin air to create "a plan," and he is now annointed as "one of Congress’ leading authorities on the federal budget." In fact, the guy is nothing more than another right-wing ideologue who will lie, cheat, steal, do anything it takes to promote his plutocratic/extreme right-wing social agenda.

[Curmudgeoness]

2. I have said this before, and been proven wrong, but

I will say that they will never be able to get rid of Medicare. The repercusions to it are so tragic, and there are too many people who will be affected by privatizing Medicare, that this is just not politically possible. Any rational person would know that the cost of health insurance for a 70 year old would be unattainable for most of us.

But then again, I said that there would be a revolution if they messed with Social Security, and they have done it without a whimper from many people. I should have been able to get it at 65. They have upped the age, and I am mad as hell. But I am alone screaming at the moon. Who knows, they may be able to get away with anything.

[MannyGoldstein]

3. That sounds like a Serious Adult thing to do. nt

[hadrons]

4. Brian Krutsch is just starting to catch on ....

Just have to take something away from him

[eridani]

5. Dean Baker sez $60K a year

http://www.truth-out.org/paul-ryan-your-pockets-government-people-who-hate-you

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan put out a budget proposal last week that will leave the vast majority of future retirees without decent health care by ending Medicare as we know it. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis, most middle-income retirees would have to pay almost half of their income to purchase a Medicare equivalent insurance packageby 2030. They would be paying much more than half of their income in later years.

<snip>

The proposal to end Medicare relies on market efficiencies to get health care costs under control, as though we had not tried this before. Has Representative Ryan never heard of Medicare Advantage or Medicare Plus Choice? Doesn't he know that we already have the opportunity to see the effectiveness of private insurers in containing health care costs in the vast non-Medicare insurance market?

Based on this extensive experience, we know that the private insurance market does not control costs. This is why the CBO calculated that Ryan's plan would hugely raise the cost of health care for seniors. If every senior got a Medicare equivalent policy under Representative Ryan's plan (which most will not be able to afford), the added cost of his system would be more than $20 trillion over the next 75 years.

This comes to more than $60,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. That would be money out of the pocket of ordinary workers and retirees that will go to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries, highly paid medical specialists, and other health care providers.

[sakabatou]

6. Let's kill the poor and middle class!

:sarcasm: