Privatizing Medicare as is the Republican plan does nothing to extend or help Medicare so why bother?

[Fly In the Ointment]

The Republicans all have plans to "fix" Medicare. Democrats have actually fixed Medicare numerous times throughout it's lifetime to extend it and make it better and never had to Privatize anything. Why would they even want to? That would only add a middle man in the form of insurance companies and they work for a profit.

We know that Insurance companies are in the market for profit, so who would want to insure the old and sick without raising rates through the roof?

They also want to do the same with Social Security and Privatize. Imagine if we did Privatize it and you have your entire life savings in your Private Social Security account and we have another President like the last Republican and the economy crashes again?

If Bush had indeed succeeded in 2004 with privatization of Social Security then by 2009 you would have lost half or more of your life savings like many folks who had 401K plans did after the economic meltdown of 2008-09 under Bush and the GOP.

What would the elderly do then with no Government backed safety net to rely on if they needed it?

Since Privatizing itself does nothing to make it better nor does it guarantee that these funds will be there when needed, why would we ever do such a foolish thing? The only ones who would benefit would be the Private insurance companies, not the Seniors.

We cannot and should not be making a profit off of our Seniors safety net. Why can't republicans just work to fix the program with measures such as increasing the limit that is taxed and putting means testing rules in place for wealthy Seniors? These actually were republican ideas at one time.
By repeating the same old line..."It's going broke" does not deal with the fact that Privatizing does nothing to help it. It actually would cost money to do that and there isn't any savings and a whole lot of risk then why would we want to go down that road at all?

. Seniors get less and pay more. What good is that when Democrats can fix it by changing things but keeping it a Govt. program. I have not heard a Con to date that can answer that.

[Karen S.]

The Republican plan is to do as much as possible to hurt those who aren't wealthy, even though there is no monetary advantage.

Keep in mind that the coupons they plan to give to seniors will be worthless to anyone who can't afford to pay for most of their insurance or is denied insurance because of a pre-existing condition, and that includes almost everyone over the age of 65.
.

[Leesabrat]

Republicans just want to make money on everything. Their policy is that if you can't make a profit on it, it isn't worth having.

[kril_420]

This is their Step 1. If they get their way, the GOP will soon be saying - Look, Medicare clearly isn't working so let's scrap the whole thing.

[u_bin_called]

When the government has shown itself irresponsible with workers' money, then allowing those workers to have more control over what happens to THEIR MONEY counts as "reform" in my book...

...and by the way... I did NOT lose "my life savings" in the 401k crash... anyone who took a bit of responsibility for their portfolios could see that crash coming...

...You DO know that you can manage a 401k ,,, and it's not some magical plant that takes care of itself... right?

[RockIt]

How can "unsustainable" and "going broke in a few short years" mean the Democrats "fixed it"

Its the most broken government program in the history of civilization.

[Bittercemetery855]

Between medicare premiums and supplement policy I pay over 300 a month and a voucher plan would lower my costs if I could purchase private insurance.



RYAN'S VOUCHER PLAN:
A premium support model would fundamentally change the way that Medicare works by limiting the amount of money the federal government spends on medical services for seniors and the disabled. Currently, Medicare is an entitlement program, which means that the government must help finance every doctor visit and medical service that an individual needs.

Under a premium support system, the government would pay a percentage toward the insurance premium for each individual; there would likely be more help for low-income and sicker people. And enrollees could kick in more money to get better coverage.

SAVE THE NATION VOTE ROMNEY/RYAN 2012.

[skinnyjail570]

They are confusing people because they want it to crash in 6 years.

[shindypetite]

Big bonuses for their donors in the insurance industry.

[Lawrence]

It has been proposed because it a distraction. This is called Government By Symbolism. You put forth a plan or a panel to study the problem already knowing that nothing will be done. This way the peoPle think that something is being done, when in fact nothing meaningful is happening.