Read what my Congressman wrote to me about Medicare.....

[matmar]

this is a letter to me from August 2011 from my Congressman addressing my concern about Paul Ryan's Medicare "solution"....

Try and guess if he's a (D) or an (R)....

There has been a great deal of misinformation - unfortunately, much of it purposeful - regarding legislation considered in the House to begin to lower our annual skyrocketing deficits and to reduce our unsustainable level of debt.

In April, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan released a proposal FY2012 House budget resolution, which passed the House, but was not considered in the Senate. You should know that a budget resolution only sets general budgetary parameters; it is not a law. Any changes to law would still need to be developed by the committees of jurisdiction and passed by separate legislation.

Faced with the reality that if we do nothing, the Medicare HI Trust Fund will run out of money within about a decade, Chairman Ryan offered a set of proposals to save Medicare. Under his proposal, current seniors would have seen no change to their Medicare plan -- anyone 55 or older would keep the current Medicare system for the rest of their lives. For those 54 and under, the Medicare system would be saved by providing retirees with the ability to choose from a menu of government-sponsored plans, with premium assistance payments made by Medicare directly to the insurance plan -- similar to the health insurance plans of members of Congress and federal employees. Assistance payments would be higher for low income individuals and lower for high income individuals. This model would have addressed a major flaw in the current system and a major factor in skyrocketing costs - that there are few incentives for providers or consumers to control costs. It is unfortunate that instead of joining in the discussion and offering their ideas on how to save Medicare, many politicians took a path of pure political opportunism and grossly misrepresented the Ryan proposal.

...........I'll give you one chance to guess.........

[Marie Marie]

1. Hoping it is R

but I fear it could easily be a Blue Dog. It certainly is R thinking.

[matmar]

2. Of course it's an R.

What he wrote was complete BS.

"Saving" Medicare for those 54 and under by making them buy a private plan isn't "saving" Medicare in my book. It's pushing them into the private for-profit insurance market where more and more of the costs will be shifted to people who can least afford them - Seniors on a fixed income.

[SoapBox]

3. Ditto.

[jonthebru]

4. Gotta be a fascist, er

a republithug, er, a grandiose obstructionist potty member...

[mick063]

5. Here is how you "save" medicare

Segregate "entitlements" from the general fund.

Restore taxes to pre-Bush levels.

Disband the Department of Homeland Security. (I guess growing new Government departments is only viable for the GOP)

Stop subsidizing corporations that are realizing large profits during this "economic downturn".

Decriminalize pot (The DEA spends vasts amount of money at home and abroad on this and then there is the costs associated with prosecution and incarceration).

Control the costs of health care by "fixing" price caps at a reasonable level (comparable to the rest industrialized world). Both at the treatment level (including pharmaceuticals) and insurance level. Allow access to any insurance provider from any state.

Force the food industry to a higher standard for processed foods.

Bring physical activity back to the school yards.

Vigorously investigate and prosecute "entitlement" fraud.

Get lobbyists out of Capital Hill.


I'm sick and tired of folks telling me that Medicare can not be made solvent. If they can spend many, many billions to turn Iraq into an Iranian puppet state, they can make medicare solvent.