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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAnother Democrat (Wyden) doing the GOP's bidding
From an article titled, The Bipartisan Political Alliance That Will Turn The Fight Over Medicare On Its Head, on TalkingPointsMemo.com:
The move makes Wyden the first elected Democrat to endorse creating a premium-support system to compete with traditional fee-for-service Medicare, and for Ryan represents a de facto admission that his own plan was too radical to ever gain bipartisan support. Thats bound to affect how congressional and presidential candidates approach the issue, which will feature prominently in next years elections. But it raises a number of other questions, both about the merits of the policy and of the political calculus behind it.
The policy itself allows insurers to compete with traditional Medicare turning Medicare essentially into a public option on a private insurance exchange. Wyden and Ryan would give patients subsidies that could be applied to either private insurance or fee for service Medicare. It has features of both a defined contribution and defined benefit program. All plans including Medicare would have to meet a high benefit standard. But if seniors were to choose plans that exceeded a benchmark cost they would be required to pay the difference out of pocket. If Medicare itself were to come in below the benchmark, it would function no differently than Medicare does right now. If it Medicare were to exceed the benchmark, though, seniors would have to pay more out of pocket to enroll in it.
Unlike previous plans, those subsidies would rise and fall with the cost of the plans themselves not at a fixed rate below the explosive rate of health care inflation. But capping subsidy growth is exactly how Ryans original plan cut federal spending so much. This plan relies mostly on the theory that competition among insurers could hold down costs a proposition with little evidence behind it and would therefore save the government much less, if any, money at all. If the private plans were to prove popular, traditional Medicare would wither; if they proved popular to younger, healthier seniors, Medicare would end up with a severe adverse selection problem and could begin to unwind (though the plan does feature a so-called risk adjustment mechanism to guard against this possibility).
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... and make sure our Democratic candidates hold true to Democratic values.
WheelWalker
(8,954 posts)Ron is an outlier with some of his views regarding alternative health care legislation, but he's a rock solid Democrat on principles and values.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)He's got to be receiving some right wing money somewhere.
WheelWalker
(8,954 posts)Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)He wants to replace these with private insurance. That's regressive.
WheelWalker
(8,954 posts)let me respond by referring you to my sig line. I think it expresses the foundation of my opinions.
Sarah Ibarruri
(21,043 posts)It angers me, though, for Democrats to STILL, in 2011, have to count on and deal with Repukes.
WheelWalker
(8,954 posts)but I remember when I ate flesh, it was most satisfying.
Blessings.
http://www.votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/27036
babylonsister
(171,035 posts)WheelWalker
(8,954 posts)babylonsister
(171,035 posts)"...and for Ryan represents a de facto admission that his own plan was too radical to ever gain bipartisan support. "
But Wyden is doing the gop's bidding? Change your headline, maybe.
markpkessinger
(8,392 posts)So they DO plan to introduce it. And why would Wyden attach his name to this nonsense?
WheelWalker
(8,954 posts)(but not $10,000)
that there are other Democratic values you care about, besides health care. Check out Ron Wyden's ratings by interest groups and see if those affect your overall evaluation of Senator Wyden.
http://www.votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/27036
bullwinkle428
(20,628 posts)you never know who might be the next one to stab you in the back.
On second thought, I would be willing to bet my life that Bernie Sanders would never stab me in the back.
babylonsister
(171,035 posts)bullwinkle428
(20,628 posts)WheelWalker
(8,954 posts)Perhaps this will assist you in documenting your opinion?