Baucus blasts House plan to end Medicare

[cali]

Tuesday, April 05 2011 @ 11:00 AM MDT


Montana’s senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus blasted a House plan today to cut more than $2 trillion in health care benefits, forcing seniors to pay thousands of dollars more for care. According to the Wall Street Journal, the proposal would “essentially end Medicare” as it exists today. Instead, the plan proposed by U.S. House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), would give Medicare dollars to private insurance companies to pay for CEO salaries, profits and advertising, while covering only a portion of seniors’ benefits.

“We can’t allow the House to end Medicare and hand seniors’ health care over to private insurance companies – and we won’t, NOT ON MY WATCH,” said Baucus, chair of the Senate Finance committee, which oversees the Medicare program. “Independent experts agree the House plan makes deeps cuts to Medicare and leaves seniors with fewer benefits and higher costs. Plain, simple, and wrong, the House plan means more for insurance company CEO’s and less for Montana seniors. I won’t stand for it.”

Today, the promise of Medicare guarantees the 167,000 Montana seniors on Medicare will always receive coverage for doctors, hospitals, treatments, surgeries and medicines they need. And Medicare gives seniors the security of low, fixed costs like deductibles and co-pays, for their coverage.

The House plan would dismantle Medicare by converting it into a “voucher-like” program that gives money for seniors’ health care directly to private insurance companies. Under this plan, seniors would have to wade through significant paperwork and fine print to find a private plan that covers their medical needs. Still that plan wouldn’t guarantee coverage for the unforeseen medical conditions seniors could face over the course of the year like Medicare does. If seniors were faced with a condition not covered by their private plan, they would have to pay 100 percent of the cost out of their own pockets.

<snip>

http://www.clarkforkchronicle.com/article.php/20110405110051946

[provis99]

1. well, the American voter voted for these House members.

They deserve what they get.

[WildEyedLiberal]

7. This American voter did not

So go fuck yourself.

[FiveGoodMen]

2. This from the guy that laughed as he had single-payer advocates dragged away by cops!

[cali]

3. be that as it may, what repukes want to do is so much worse.

[DJ13]

4. +1

He's not a progressive, just an opportunistic conservative imitating a progressive.

[slipslidingaway]

8. +2 n/t

[dgibby]

5. Maybe the world really is going to end in May.

That must explain me agreeing with Max about anything.

[Better Believe It]

6. It's like privatization. Not going anywhere, but opens the door to huge Medicare/Medicaid cuts.

A grand compromise is in the wings.

And guess who will be doing most of the bi-partisan compromising?