The GOP Health Care Plan
Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) has introduced a new bill to fix Medicare. He wants to privatize it:
In an attempt to reclaim the right’s rich tradition of opposing Medicare, Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) has proposed legislation that would roll back the Medicare system and replace it with a system of vouchers that seniors could use to purchase private insurance:
U.S. Rep. Paul Broun introduced his own health care reform bill last week that would, among other things, privatize the Medicare insurance program for seniors.
Broun’s bill would replace government benefits with vouchers that could be spent on private insurance or put in tax-free medical savings accounts.
“We’ve got to fix Medicare,” he said. “It’s headed in a direction that’s unsustainable.”
While Medicare is facing future budgetary problems, privatization isn’t the solution. Medicare Advantage, the Medicare plan under which the administration of the program is farmed out to private insurance companies, has more than five times the administrative costs of the traditional public Medicare plan.
Is he serious? How much does he think medical care costs for seniors? I don’t understand why we’re supposed to take Republicans seriously at all on the issue of health care. I don’t think they’re even listening to the real problems that real Americans are facing every day with our current system.
Playing the privatization card instead of addressing the real problem. If private insurance will drop you because you had acne, what makes this fool think that a senior is going to get anywhere near private insurance? Much less for a decent rate?
Medicare does need to be fixed, but handing out a check and sending seniors on their way is not a solution.
I know Cassandra. There’s no way my father (who is quite healthy thanks to medical intervention) would be able to buy medical insurance. He’s 64, with Type 1 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and he’s had bypass surgery. I doubt the vouchers would even pay for his medicine.
Also, since Republicans are so very concerned with hip replacement – how would a senior be able to pay for a hip replacement with vouchers?
Republican Congressmen should receive their salaries in the form of tax vouchers, McDonald’s coupons, and Monopoly money.
I love it when Republicans say stupid things. The one voting bloc they can pretty much count on is seniors. Guess they want to lose that group, as well.
Truth is, despite its problems, seniors love medicare – even GOP seniors. Threaten it and pay the political price.
I like the idea of giving Congresspeople their pay in the form of tax cuts, since they are so fond of them.
Too lazy to look for the link… the other day a Texas GOP Congressman was found in line for a free swine flu shot for his daughter… turns out the turd voted against funding for that very shot.
Oh, please Good Lord, let this proposal get tons of media coverage. Tons and tons.
Have Republicans forgotten that the one group of citizens who always suit up, show up and vote are those over 65?!
Yea, my mom is going to do splendidly in a search for private insurance, with two (defeated!) cancers and two heart valve replacements. Yup, those private insurers will be lining up to take her “voucher”….
Serious dilemma
Does the GOP prefer to be known as 1) The Party of No, or 2) The Party of No Clue?
Count Rep Paul Broun as voting for #2
Would anyone trade their medicare for private insurance? Of course not. Just like they would not trade their social security for private sector anything. The republican anti-government nonsense would result in tens of millions of seniors homeless and on the street without medicare and Social Security. So much for morality. In the end, most people realize they are better off with the government protecting its citizens than the private sector raping them for profit. The republican version of health care “reform” is nothing but rhetoric.
Broun’s bill would replace government benefits with vouchers that could be spent on private insurance or put in tax-free medical savings accounts.
If DCCC doesn’t run this ad they are morons:
And there’s more — Eric Cantor makes a plea for a bipartisan bill. But only one with stuff that the GOP likes, like:
Someone please tell Mr. Clown Shoes that the insurance companies already do this. Insurance companies already set the rates at which providers are paid and providers that don’t like the rates are dropped from the networks. Insurance companies already ration care — via rescissions and making you fight for your benefits.
The whole thing is worth a read. It is as though all of the work of this spring and summer didn’t happen. And check out the hubris of the demand for bipartisanship solely on his terms. Which isn’t bipartisanship — by definition.
Americans care more about getting a good bill than getting a bipartisan bill. Republicans controlled the presidency and Congress for 6 years. Where was their health care plan then?
What did Cantor think that whole “Gang of Six” thing was about? It was Grassley and Ensign who said that they wouldn’t vote for the bill even if they included the changes they wanted. Why were Democrats supposed to negotiate with them more?
Republicans had plenty of chances to shape a bill. They said “no” every time. Now that it looks likely to pass they now want to negotiate? Does he think we’re all dopes?
I don’t know what you’re talking about UI. They showed us their plan. First, join the military for health care and because the economy and educational opportunities are extremely limited. Then get injured. Then we’ll send you to Walter Reed.
I think they’ve been clear enough about their plan.
and i think you’ve had too much of Glenn’s Kool-aid
I have never seen Republicans so off message. It use to be their strong point. How they ever planned to merge “NO!” with cries of bipartisanship is beyond me.
LOL, Brooke. You’re right that seem pretty clear.
You’re right pandora. Republicans have completely lost their message discipline. The new communications strategy of the Republicans (IMO) is to “win the news cycle.” I think they’ve been fairly successful in getting themselves on TV. The problem for them is that Americans aren’t necessarily liking what they’re hearing and as we predicted Republicans overplayed their hand. They represented one of the most popular parts of the reform package as an unacceptable evil, where most people didn’t really see a problem with another health care option. Now Republicans are stuck.
Pandora, here’s your political Zen question of the day — Can you really be off-message when you had no message to begin with? Or more accurately, when your message changes weekly (or weakly).
Stop making my head hurt, Scott.
The problem for Republicans is none of their previous messages work anymore. No taxes. Tax and spend liberals. Hell, even the word liberal has lost its power, only to be replaced by: socialist, communist, nazi, etc.
The are message deficit hawks. Even their “war rep” is in the trash. No wonder they’re floundering. Which brings us back to your question… they got nothing.
I don’t know Scott – they seem pretty organized around NO.
Most toddlers are, UI. We don’t give them the reins of government.
wing nut alert, not the elite liberals are trying to keep people away from government based on their AGE!!! I WANT THE REAL AMERICA *throws soup on the ground*