Politics

Connecting the Dots: Insurance Companies, Privatizing Medicare, and the GOP

By Karina

Congressional Republicans are trying to distance themselves from the plan by Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) to privatize Medicare and turn it over to insurance companies, but they can?t hide from their voting record?here are the facts:

Last year, nearly 80% of House Republicans voted in favor of a plan to replace traditional Medicare benefits for those under 55 with a voucher program that would decrease in value over time ? handing Medicare over to the insurance companies and throwing seniors out on their own in the private insurance marketplace. The non-partisan CBO analyzes how the GOP plan would impact seniors:

Beneficiaries would also bear the financial risk for the cost of buying insurance policies or the cost of obtaining health care services beyond what would be covered by their insurance.

And Ezra Klein translates:

That’s a bit of a slog, so here’s the translation: The proposal would shift risk from the federal government to seniors themselves.

This year, insurance companies and special interest groups are funding the Congressional Republican agenda to turn Medicare into a voucher program. Some of these special interest groups who are supporting the GOP agenda, including the conservative “60 Plus Association,”?are funded by corporate donations from the health industry itself. As the New York Times reported this week, many of these groups are skirting the law.

Full post as published by The Gavel on October 20, 2010 (boomark / email).