Ok class, did you read your homework assignment? What? You didn’t know there was a homework assignment? Ok, I’ll give you five minutes to review it. Here it is:
http://www.medeanalytics.com/healthcare-news-events/pr-2011-09-medeanalytics-report-sustainable-growth-rate.htmlNote this part:
"Putting off reform of the SGR even for a year would result in implementation of a very significant decrease to Medicare physician fees in calendar year 2012, which would lead to reduced physician participation in Medicare, and therefore patients' access to care.
Now, I know that the “sustainable growth rate” sounds really boring. So, how about we reframe this as
“a life and death battle to save Medicare”. Is that more interesting?
You in the front row. You have a question? Why would anyone want to kill Medicare you ask?
Medicare is a thorn in the side of private health insurers. As long as Medicare exists, it would be pretty easy for the nation to expand the program to cover everyone. Instant socialized medicine. So, Medicare must die. In addition, most Medicare patients are not sick, and therefore privates would be more than happy to write them high cost policies with huge deductibles. The small percentage of Medicare recipients who actually cost the program money are poor (because of their massive health care costs) and they would be placed on Medicaid and would become the problem of state governments. In this way, the privates would suck up the Medicare premiums while dodging the financial risks.
So, how does the health care industry kill Medicare? They started under the Bush administration with the so called “Advantage” plans that sucked up Medicare dollars—and cherry picked all the healthiest Medicare members. (I've got a really old journal about this buried away somewhere if you want to go looking for it) But people figured out that the “Advantage” plans were a rip off of the federal government. And they don't eliminate the Medicare to Universalcare threat.
So, this year, the private insurers got their man Paul Ryan to write a bill, which would have eliminated Medicare for anyone under 55, forcing young and middle aged folks to keep paying high premiums for private insurance for the rest of their lives---until they got too sick to pay their out of pocket, at which point they would be enrolled in Medicaid. And remember who pays for Medicaid. That's right, class.
The states. The feds pitch in, but they don't have to. How would you like to be dependent upon the kindness of Texas for your dialysis?
Anyway, back to the Paul Ryan bill. All but four House Republicans voted for it and all the House Dems voted against it. The GOP felt drunk with power….
http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/04/paul-ryan-gop-budget-saves-medicare-by-gutting-it/And then, the pr shit hit the fan. In a panic to distance themselves from this massively unpopular bit of legislation, Republicans tabled the Paul Ryan Bill. And then, they told the Washington Post that Obama planned to gut Medicare, and the mainstream, progressive and right wing medias have been promoting this Big Lie since July, so that when 2012 rolls around and their Democratic opponents say “You tried to kill Medicare!” Tea Baggers can reply “Your president tried to kill Medicare, too!”
Yes, you in the second row? You say you read that Obama wants to “chainsaw massacre” Medicare? And you read it on the internet so that must make it true. That’s why they call it a BIG lie.
So, how can the Republicans fulfill the dream of their SuperPac donors? How can they kill Medicare without leaving a vote trail that will haunt them in the 2012 general election? Easy. They can refuse to do anything about the so called “sustainable growth rate” cuts that will slash provider reimbursement by 25% starting January, 2012.
Obama has already indicated that he wants the cuts eliminated.
Obama supports a permanent repeal of the sustainable growth rate formula that helps determine physician pay, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew said during his Feb. 14 budget presentation.
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/02/21/gvsa0221.htmAt the moment, it is a point of pride with House Republicans not to do anything that Obama wants. Say a girl is on fire on the White House lawn, and Obama wants someone to get the fire hose. Boehner and company will say “Hell no! That’s socialism. No, Obamacare!” Say the economy is hemorrhaging jobs and Obama wants them to pass a jobs bill. Their response---“Make us!” They no longer care about what the voters think. They are so confident that their mountains of SuperPac money and E vote fraud will win them the 2012 election that they will do anything to please their corporate masters….
But still, voting to end Medicare is pretty gutsy. Sort of like taking a shotgun and aiming it at your own head. That is why the House GOP will
not vote---- and still end Medicare. All they have to do is say “We won’t eliminate this 25% across the board cut unless you (blank)”. At first, “blank” will be “tax cuts for the rich.” Then “blank” will be “cuts to the EPA, FDA and SEC budget.” They will keep demanding concessions, until they finally place the last straw on the camel’s/donkey's back. And when Dems have nothing more that they can give away, the House Republicans will lean back with satisfied smiles on their faces and say “It wasn’t enough. You (Obama) didn’t try hard enough to persuade us to save Medicare---so we are going to kill it. You (Obama) care more about Blacks/gays/ unions than you do about old folks. Shame on you.” And the mainstream media will blame Democrats for being unable to reach across the aisle and work out a deal with the Republicans.
A cut this massive will drive doctors ( whose overhead is about 75%) out of business. It will bankrupt hospitals. It will make it impossible for Medicare recipients to get anything other than emergency care. Instead of getting the circulation restored to his feet (expensive semi-elective vascular surgery) grandpa will have to wait until he develops gangrene of the foot, at which point a surgeon will grudgingly cut the foot off, while whining “Medicare does not pay me enough to do this.”
The hospital industry is already preparing for the worse with massive layoffs.
Financial analysts have issued gloomy predictions for hospitals, and industry advocates project that layoffs will increase if additional cuts are made to Medicare.
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/09/26/bisf0929.htmAnd, as December nears, and the House Republicans refuse to consider ways to save Medicare, the crisis within the medical community is only going to get worse. Since the health care industry is a huge employer in this country, significant lay offs will make unemployment rise and send the economy deeper into the toilet---which is just what the Tea Party is hoping for in advance of the 2012 elections.
Any more questions, class. Third row. You read on the internet that Obama wants to “mass murder” Medicare? Oh, I give up.
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