Admin to shift 2 Million seniors from Medicare to Vouchers?

[Savannahmann]

My first response was impossible. But I can't find anything to say it isn't happening. So I have been banging my head wondering if the HHS department is actually run by old Bush cronies. Timing this announcement the very day after President Obama promised not to do it.

From the linked story.

In his convention speech in Charlotte, President Obama vowed to block the Republican Medicare reform plan because “no American should ever have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies.”

But back in Washington, his Health and Human Services Department is launching a pilot program that would shift up to 2 million of the poorest and most-vulnerable seniors out of the federal Medicare program and into private health insurance plans overseen by the states.

I mean, is it amature hour in Washington? Timing the release of this news story to the very day after the President made his pledge, when it had to be in the works for months is beyond stupid. Are we trying to lose to Romney?

The stupidity of doing this is obvious. The stupidity of announcing it the very day after President Obama pledged not to do this is astounding.

I'm nearly sputtering with rage. We can and will lose this election if we keep making the same kind of messaging mistakes that seem to happen every single week. Look DNC leadership. Listen to me. Two things here. 1) Don't do this. 2) If you're dumb enough to do this, don't announce it the very day after the President says we're not going to do this.

[myrna minx]

1. Can you provide more info about your source? I don't click on blinds links.

[cynatnite]

2. It's from the national journal. n/t

[annabanana]

3. 'nuff said

[Horse with no Name]

4. LOL. Well I guess that says it all? n/t

[myrna minx]

5. Thanks. That tells me plenty.

[DURHAM D]

12. Plus the fact it is 4.5 months old.

[zbdent]

8. Hover over the link, and you get the "National Journal" ...

[dkf]

10. It's based on this from the center for Medicare and Medicaid aka the Govt.

http://www.cms.gov/Medicare-Medicaid-Coordination/Medicare-and-Medicaid-Coordination/Medicare-Medicaid-Coordination-Office/FinancialModelstoSupportStatesEffortsinCareCoordination.html

A longstanding barrier to coordinating care for Medicare-Medicaid enrollees has been the financial misalignment between Medicare and Medicaid. To begin to address this issue, CMS will test two models for States to better align the financing of these two programs and integrate primary, acute, behavioral health and long term services and supports for their Medicare-Medicaid enrollees. 

These two models include:

Capitated Model: A State, CMS, and a health plan enter into a three-way contract, and the plan receives a prospective blended payment to provide comprehensive, coordinated care. 

Managed Fee-for-Service Model: A State and CMS enter into an agreement by which the State would be eligible to benefit from savings resulting from initiatives designed to improve quality and reduce costs for both Medicare and Medicaid.

CMS is interested in testing these models across the country in programs that collectively serve up to 2 million Medicare-Medicaid enrollees.  All programs will be rigorously evaluated as to their ability to improve quality and reduce costs. Meaningful engagement with stakeholders and ensuring beneficiary protections will be a crucial part of developing and testing these models.

[Ilsa]

6. Daily-Kos link:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/09/1129608/-Wingnuts-Accusing-Obama-of-Implementing-VoucherCare

I'll summarize shortly.

[Ilsa]

9. More:

Medicare link:
http://www.cms.gov/Medicare-Medicaid-Coordination/Medicare-and-Medicaid-Coordination/Medicare-Medicaid-Coordination-Office/FinancialModelstoSupportStatesEffortsinCareCoordination.html

From Daily-Kos:

A longstanding barrier to coordinating care for Medicare-Medicaid enrollees has been the financial misalignment between Medicare and Medicaid. To begin to address this issue, CMS will test two models for States to better align the financing of these two programs and integrate primary, acute, behavioral health and long term services and supports for their Medicare-Medicaid enrollees.
These two models include:

    Capitated Model: A State, CMS, and a health plan enter into a three-way contract, and the plan receives a prospective blended payment to provide comprehensive, coordinated care.
    Managed Fee-for-Service Model: A State and CMS enter into an agreement by which the State would be eligible to benefit from savings resulting from initiatives designed to improve quality and reduce costs for both Medicare and Medicaid.

CMS is interested in testing these models across the country in programs that collectively serve up to 2 million Medicare-Medicaid enrollees.  All programs will be rigorously evaluated as to their ability to improve quality and reduce costs. Meaningful engagement with stakeholders and ensuring beneficiary protections will be a crucial part of developing and testing these models.

Explanation from Daily-Kos reporter:

One thing that these Right-Wing critics ignore is the fact that this isn't really focused on Medicare, but instead impact Medicaid and those people who are on the cusp between both programs.
There is NO MENTION OF VOUCHERS in these plans.

In contrast to Paul Ryan's vouchers - which act as discount coupons for a fixed amount, the remainder of which would have to paid out of the beneficiaries pocket - these plans would be Paid for By the Government. Nothing in these plans, from what I can see, would increase out of pocket costs for people on these program and would place them in the position of having to consider foregoing care because of those increasing costs the way the Ryan's plan would.

Some of the plan may involved private insurance providers in the same way that Medicare Advantage does, while some would be direct service in the same way that Medicare Part A and Part B do.

This idea is significantly different from Ryan's or Romney who would cut Medicaid by as much as 30% and then block grant it to the states without any oversight or requirements to provide higher quality care at reduced cost.

[Warren Stupidity]

17. So, Medicaid, not Medicare, and not a voucher program.

Other than lying out of his ass, it is a fair point.

[myrna minx]

24. Thanks!

[Savannahmann]

28. Thank you

One of the things I hoped for was an explanation on what was going on. I thank you for that.

[mzmolly]

32. Yep.

Even reading between the lines at the NJ link, demonstrated the clear difference between the state run managed care plans, and voucher care.

Thanks for clarifying.

[LongTomH]

11. Thanks! Need to nip this disinfo campaign in the bud!

They're really getting desperate, aren't they?

[cynatnite]

14. Thank you for this. This debunks that talking point. n/t

[Horse with no Name]

7. Nice try. n/t

[budkin]

13. CROFL @ total bullshit!

[liberalmuse]

15. Hmmmm.

You might want to save your "rage". The National Journal is a conservative rag, so I'd believe the exact opposite of most of the shit they print.

[Kingofalldems]

16. Well this was an epic something or other

What was that word again?

[msanthrope]

21. Fail. You'd Better Believe that word is FAIL. nt

[Kingofalldems]

25. 63 posts in five years

Looks like sockpuppetism.

[Horse with no Name]

26. Yeah I alerted

Apparently sourcing a right wing rag isn't sufficient to hide a thread.

[Speck Tater]

18. This is a no-brainer

How can a plan save money if it:

1. Provides the same services as Medicare

AND

2. In addition, puts more profit into the pockets of private corporations.

Where does the extra money come from that goes into the pockets of the corporations? It's a no-brainer. More money for the wealthy corporations means more cost to the consumer. That money for the 1% has to come from somewhere, and it will come out of our pockets.

Every penny "saved" by the government will be replaced by two pennies taken from the poor and middle class and given to the rich 1%. It's nothing more than yet another scheme to steal from the poor and give to the rich.

On edit: O.K. I reacted too fast without considering the source. But I still think my argument works against just about every scheme to privatize things that are best done by government.

[kestrel91316]

19. Vouchers are not part of ACA. Subsidies are.

Please do your homework and read up on it on the ACA website before you go posting any more of this BS here.

[Schema Thing]

20. exactly why haven't you been tombstoned?

[gkhouston]

22. I can't find anything to say that dinosaurs aren't about to be reintroduced to the planet, either,

but I'm not going to lend the possibility any credence.

[malaise]

23. Enjoy your stay

That source isn't credible

[Proud Liberal Dem]

27. Sounds like effort to muddy the waters

make it look like "both parties (want to) do it!"


Coming to a Romney/Ryan ad, campaign speech, and/or conference call near you soon?

[RandiFan1290]

29. Forever Concerned, eh?

[mzmolly]

30. The experiment noted, isn't akin to a voucher program

regardless. It's highly regulated, the benefits have to match Medicare and their is a choice.

[MineralMan]

31. Spreading the seeds of discontent from the National Journal, eh?

That trick never works. As you've seen, people already know the truth about this.

If it's in the National Journal, it's FUD. That's rule number 1.

[DemocratsForProgress]

33. You're "nearly sputtering with rage" over a crock of crap?

I'll just quote you here: "The stupidity of doing this is obvious."

Much more obvious than you apparently think, I'd say.

[Summer Hathaway]

34. "I mean, is it amature hour in Washington?"

No - and it's not amature hour on DU either.

[BeyondGeography]

35. Amature

[Bluenorthwest]

36. This is not even worth responding to

Aren't there custodians or something around here?

[OregonBlue]

37. Nice try but no cigar. bye bye.

[BlueToTheBone]

38. Sounds like a rw meme and is false

Aren't you glad you are in a place where you can receive real news rather than lies and damn lies? welcome to du

[cali]

39. hey wittle savannahman, don't you want to comment

now that you're dog shit post has been debunked?

C'mon honeypie, you must have something to say.