Five questions about GOP's plan to privatize Medicare

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/17/us-privatize-medicare-idUSTRE7AG2FT20111117

By Mark Miller

Thu Nov 17, 2011 4:27pm EST

(Reuters) - The Congressional Super Committee negotiations are coming down to the wire, and Republicans are demanding that Medicare privatization be included in any final budget deal.

The news comes on the heels of GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's recent call for creation of a "premium support" option that would let seniors choose between traditional fee-for-service Medicare or a defined amount of money that they could use to shop for a private plan in a federally-sponsored Medicare exchange marketplace. Romney's proposal is a cousin of the privatization plan proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan, and endorsed by the House of Representatives earlier this year.

Even if the Super Committee process stalls, the future of Medicare will be a key issue in the 2012 Presidential race, and any restructuring of the program would impact billions of dollars of healthcare spending and tens of millions of beneficiaries. How would privatization impact seniors? How would benefits change, and what would it mean for seniors' cost of healthcare? Here are answers to five key issues.

[Bigmack]

1. Anybody fucks with Medicare, and we're looking at Arma-fucking-geddon. nt

[RagAss]

4. These animals would throw their mothers off a cliff to line their pockets.

[louis-t]

2. "Did we say 'vouchers'?

No, we meant preeeemium sssuppport!1!!1" Assholes.

[Fire Walk With Me]

3. It's also important to remember that they're trying to cut it to be controlling, to cause harm

and to laugh at the harm they've caused. See "Hurricane Katrina".