Medicare - what exactly are their "take an ax" to it plans????

[DemocracyInaction]

Small section in "Time" magazine. Says that Obama and GOP are playing a little chicken game but that they will eventually come out with cuts to SS and Medicare and addressing the debt that will make everyone pissed. Dems because of SS/Medicare cuts and Repubs because they probably will do something like a gas tax (can you spell "Double Dip" recession)! Anyway, we all kind of know the shit proposed for SS (making you wait to retire until they can mail your first check to the graveyard). But, does anyone know what they are proposing for Medicare?? Obama shys away from saying the SS word but he's always slipping out the "something has to be done with Medicare" crap. Seriously, have any of you heard anything about Medicare???

[Lint Head]

1. I'm surprised Cigna, Atena, Palmetto, BCBS, among other insurance carriers

are not up in arms. They have lucrative Medicare contracts. The government doesn't run Medicare the big insurance companies do.
A cut to Medicare means a big hit to these insurance companies.

[DURHAM D]

3. Huh?

"The government doesn't run Medicare" ???

[madrchsod]

4. nope...they set the standards but the big insurance companies do the billing

and other administrative stuff. they charge the government a fraction of what they charge us,like my 20%. little known fact ..most insurance companies pay the hospitals close to the same rates as medicare. if a treatment is`t covered by medicare it`s unlikely it will be covered by insurance.

the stuff you learn while doing psychical therapy

[DURHAM D]

5. I have no clue what you are trying to say.

Invoicing/billing is not the same as "running Medicare". Health and Human Services (U.S. Government) runs Medicare.

[Hello_Kitty]

2. Probably shifting more costs to individuals.

Medicare recipients need to be "savvier consumers of health care" or some such nonsense. Still, I really wouldn't expect too much to be cut from Medicare. Their target is SS. Rich people and affluent DC politicos are self-interested enough to realize that, while they'll probably be okay if SS is cut, self-insuring expensive medical care for themselves or elderly relatives might get expensive. They like their Medicare just as much as we do.