Republican bill would enroll seniors in same health plans as lawmakers

[mistertrickster]

Source: The Hill

A group of Senate Republicans has introduced legislation that would end traditional Medicare and sign seniors up for the same private healthcare plans received by members of Congress.

The "Congressional Health Care for Seniors Act" would allow seniors to choose from the array of plans currently offered to the four million federal employees and their dependents in the Federal Employee Health Benefit program, starting in 2014. It would also gradually increase the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 70 over a 20-year period.

The bill was introduced Thursday by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). South Carolina Sens. Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint are co-sponsors, along with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/medicare/216303-gop-medicare-bill-would-enroll-seniors-into-lawmakers-plans

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Holy Cow . . . I think the RepubliCons just signed their own death warrants.

[MichiganVote]

1. Medicare at 70??? What a load of shit that is.

[shcrane71]

17. It's a fiscally prudent measure enacted by a-holes.

Most Americans die prior to getting access to healthcare.

[alfredo]

2. I have the Federal Employee Health Benefit plan. It is good, but no replacement for Medicare.

[mistertrickster]

7. Exactly . . . Private insurers DON'T WANT old folks.

That was what got Medicare passed to begin with. It reduced cost for private plans in a huge way.

[alfredo]

20. They just want us go away and die.

[onethatcares]

3. fuck that, medicare for all, we pay for it, we deserve it.

I'll bet we would never hear a word about how much they'll make on the back end if they can get everyone over 65

to buy private healthcare insurance.

[denbot]

4. We have a version that costs us 500 a month, plus what ever the Feds chip in.

For a single person with out the matching funds the cost would be at least 500 per month with a number of deductions that would be due when treatment is sought. How much are medicare premiums right now?

[montanacowboy]

5. Depending on your income

most people pay about $98 month

[montanacowboy]

6. THIS IS TOTALLY INSANE

PART A MEDICARE THERE IS NO CHARGE - YOU AUTOMATICALLY GET IT AT AGE 65

PART B MEDICARE (DOCTOR'S VISITS) $98/MO

AND THEY WANT SENIORS TO PAY LIKE A REGULAR HEALTH CARE PLAN? JESUS H CHRIST
ARE THEY FUCKING NUTS?

[area51]

16. "ARE THEY FUCKING NUTS?"

Yes, they are.

Since they have to know that most seniors aren't wealthy like they are, this apparently is their plan for population control.

Logan's Run, anyone?

[alfredo]

21. They aren't nuts, they are evil.

[AlbertCat]

8. It's baloney.... of course. Rand Paul brand shit baloney.

As it says near the end of the article:


"This is a kill-two-birds-with-one-stone kind of proposal that would both bring down Medicare as we know it and threaten the stability of the FEHBP," said association president Joseph Beaudoin. "As for the senators' notion that America's seniors should be in the same health care system as America's elected officials, they seem to have forgotten that starting in 2014, members of Congress will no longer be covered by the FEHBP but will be in state-based health care exchanges."

[kestrel91316]

9. So seniors will have to pay free market insurance rates until age 70???? WTF?????

What's that these days? $2500/mo or so????

[shcrane71]

18. LMAO "Free" market rates!

I can't imagine what healthcare premiums are for someone older than 60.

Crazy how the FREE market healthcare is running seniors into bankruptcy. We need price controls.

[PSPS]

10. This is just another idea to kill Medicare

The idea will likely be to "enroll" seniors and then give them a voucher for (part of) the "private insurance program" premium. In other words, it is a way to destroy Medicare and funnel taxpayer money to the profit-making (and, more importantly, bribing campaign contributing) insurance companies.

Plus it raises the age for eligibility to 70, which is a de-facto raising of the retirement age.

[DavidDvorkin]

11. That might be okay if

the average Social Security check was equal to what those lawmakers get.

But only as a stopgap on the road to fee health insurance for everyone.

[elleng]

12. COULD work IF Feds paid ALL of seniors' monthly premiums;

they pay a portion of Fed employees' premiums now. AND seniors' co-pays.

FEHBP is a very good fee-for-service system, giving employees many choices for coverage. It does cost. (I use it, instead of Medicare, as husband is a Fed. employee.)

[magic59]

13. republiCons are cruel, inhuman psychopaths

What will they think of next, glue factories for the elderly?

[saras]

19. No, they're working on living harvest - what do you think the whole obesity thing is about?

In between your mandatory rapes, comes the collection of the pound of flesh...

[fasttense]

14. The Hill certainly produced a misleading headline.

Seniors wont get what lawmakers get. Seniors wont have the option to go to any military medical facility for FREE, like lawmakers get.

But of course no one mentions that part.

[sinkingfeeling]

15. Shouldn't the headline read: "GOP Continues to Plan Privatization of Medicare"?

[lovuian]

22. These Republicans are going down!!!

they are going into extinction
the Baby Boomers better wake up and Vote them out