Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRepublicans Spread the Holiday Hate by Trying to Kill Medicare for Christmas
http://www.politicususa.com/republicans-spread-holiday-hate-kill-medicare-christmas.htmlRepublicans Spread the Holiday Hate by Trying to Kill Medicare for Christmas
By: Rmuse
December 11th, 2012
In most cultures that are not American, the elderly are treated with respect and deference for their lifetime of experience and contributions to society, and despite the cost, most societies provide care and comfort to the elderly in their golden years. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt saw the need to provide a decent life for Americans in their old age, the Social Security Administration was created as a means of delivering a government administered pension plan to assure the people they would not starve or be homeless when they could no longer work. Still, only half of older adults had health insurance, and the other half either found coverage unavailable, or prohibitively expensive because their meager retirement income made health insurance unaffordable as they were charged nearly three times as much for coverage than a younger person. Thirty years after Social Securitys inception, Congress created Medicare under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide health insurance to people age 65 and older, regardless of income or medical history, and it has been a popular program ever since; except to Republicans.
For the past four years, Republicans have sought spending cuts that affect the poor, but they have threatened to enact brutal spending cuts to the elderlys government administered healthcare that jeopardizes guaranteed access to health insurance for Americans ages 65 and older and younger people with disabilities. As a hateful attempt to cut the nations deficit, and avoid the dreaded fiscal cliff, the GOP is going all in to make cuts to Medicare by raising the eligibility age despite the damage to the nations elderly, and the budget. In 2009, Republicans assailed the Affordable Care Act as rationed healthcare and government-created death panels, but Medicare cuts Republicans are proposing will mean older Americans are bound for an early death under the guise of entitlement reform and deficit reduction. If they are successful, the dreaded death panels are due to begin in 2013 and their enactment is the goal of Republicans.
In fiscal cliff negotiations, the only specific proposal Republicans have made to date is demanding $600 billion in Medicare cuts over ten years by denying Medicare coverage to Americans during their first two years of eligibility by raising the eligibility age to 67. Because the elderly are prone to chronic conditions like cancer and diabetes which can be treated more effectively, and less expensively, with early diagnosis and intervention, it makes little fiscal sense to deny coverage to people aged 65 and 66. The result will lead to more severe infirmities, higher Medicare costs, and early death which may be the Republicans ulterior motive and another means of cutting Medicare costs over the long haul.
snip//
If Republicans want drastic Medicare cost reductions, there are other means than raising the eligibility age, but they are determined to go forward with cuts without upsetting corporate profits. They have resisted addressing overtreatment, overbilling, and out-of-control profiteering by the extremely profitable healthcare industry as well as rejected attempts to allow Medicare to negotiate for less-expensive prescription drugs to protect the pharmaceutical industry. Given a choice between strengthening an effective healthcare program and protecting profits, Republicans are choosing to protect the corporations and increase Medicare costs over the long haul. Democrats and President Obama must resist raising the Medicare eligibility age because Republicans are not proposing deficit reduction, they are suggesting cutting the elderlys survival rate, and no matter how one looks at it, deliberately reducing survival is a death panel.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
2 replies, 654 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (0)
ReplyReply to this post
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Republicans Spread the Holiday Hate by Trying to Kill Medicare for Christmas (Original Post)
babylonsister
Dec 2012
OP
indepat
(20,899 posts)1. Thankfully, the Senate and WH are in Democratic control and no liberal, progressive, or centrist
Democrat would ever vote to deliberately reduce survival for that is such an extremely RW final solution.
RagAss
(13,832 posts)2. Fa-la-la-la-la Go fuck yourselves !