Thursday, August 23, 2012

Are You Confused About Medicare Cost Claims?

I have spent the better part of the past 5 days trying to understand the difference between the ObamaCare plan for MediCare and the Romney-Ryan plan. I think I have an accurate understanding of this question, now; but I do not recommend that you try this exercise—it is just too complicated for general consumption. Let me explain it to you in simple terms. Both sides in the argument are doing their best to distort the ideas of the other; and neither side is trying to tell the truth about MediCare proposals.

“MediCare, as we know it today” will go away by means of both plans—it has to; because there is just not enough money to keep the plan intact for the future. So…both systems will change the plan; and by both plans, there will be less service. The only question will be, how soon? And what will be the changes?

Under ObamaCare, $716 billion will be taken out of MediCare by cutting payments to providers; no benefits will be decreased; and the money will be put back into MediCare in the form of payments for cancer screening tests, preventive care, and high cost drugs. Ryan’s plan also proposes the same $716 billion in provider cuts. Here is where the Romney and Ryan plans differ: Romney would put the $716 billion back into Medicare to pay for services. In other words, the Romney plan opposes the cuts, while the Ryan plan includes them.

Under the Romney-Ryan plan, the MediCare eligibility age will increase to 67 years by 2034; President Obama is also considering that change. The Romney-Ryan plan will not affect anyone presently above the age of 55.

Under the Ryan plan, which passed the House of Representatives, MediCare recipients would receive “premium support,” which is another way of saying “voucher” to pay for health care of their own choosing. At the present time, the voucher would be worth $11,000/year, because that is the average amount of money MediCare pays for the average Medicare recipient now. As time goes on the voucher value will increase in value based on the increase in the gross domestic product+1% yearly. That amount of money will not completely keep up with the rate of rise in health care costs, because those health care costs are rising faster than that rate. In the future, patients will have to make up the difference between the money provided by the voucher and the charges of the health care provider.

The Romney-Ryan plan would include an option in which the patient could retain traditional MediCare  coverage.

The Republican plan includes higher Medicare premiums for wealthier beneficiaries. And it includes extra government subsidies for lower-income beneficiaries. This is similar to the situation under ObamaCare.

Under the Romney-Ryan plan, seniors will be able to buy additional insurance to offset the increasing cost of medical services; but the amount of money they can spend on the additional insurance will be capped, while the cost of the services, themselves will not be capped. So…one can see that some health care costs under the Romney-Ryan plan will come out of the pocket of patients. Unfortunately, I do not see any other way of paying for health care needs—patients will necessarily have to bear some of the burden of high cost health care treatment in the future.

The President has claimed that under Romney-Ryan, seniors will have to pay $6400 more each year for health care coverage. This is not true; the figure is based on an old plan that is not under consideration any more.

There is one item in the Obama administration’s function that must not be overlooked; that is this: Under President Obama’s leadership, $10.7 billion has been saved by detecting and recovering fraudulent payments for supposed MediCare treatments over the past 3 years. That is, to my way of thinking, a very good start in dealing with MediCare fraud; but…it is estimated from several sources that MediCare fraud amounts to as much as $65 billion yearly! There is a lot of work to do here.

I, personally, favor the Romney-Ryan plan for the reason that I (and most Americans) can see that ObamaCare involves a huge expansion of federal government into our daily lives. I do not trust the government to control large parts part of my life. The Romney-Ryan plan would eliminate a lot of government control and allow free market forces to decide what the price of health care should be.

If any of my readers would like to look into this question more, the best source is http://usat.ly/Og9sGm.

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