GOP wants to cut Medicare and Medicaid

[James]

I'm not old enough to get either but do you think the GOP wanting to cut Medicare and Medicaid is going to go over very well with the older voters? Is that really what needs to be cut? Are those programs really an entitlement?

[Hamilton]

Originally Posted by James

I'm not old enough to get either but do you think the GOP wanting to cut Medicare and Medicaid is going to go over very well with the older voters? Is that really what needs to be cut? Are those programs really an entitlement?

That would be political suicide -- there's got to more to the story. But on the other hand, who would trust the GOP to get anything right.

[DJW]

NOBODY...in either party is talking about "cutting" Medicare to people currently receiving benefits. Medicaid on the other hand is set to explode with ObamaCare unless some States choose to block the expansion (per the Supreme Court).

So the entire thread is...well...silly.

[compressor#v]

"NOBODY...in either party is talking about "cutting" Medicare to people currently receiving benefits"

For now, but they haven't said who would be affected, and when.
So just believing whatever (either one) your party spoon feeds you, is just well...silly.
I certainly don't trust them.

[spdrcr137]

AMEN, can we say that here??

[scudda]

Where do you think money for Obamacare is coming from?? They are taking it from Medicare.

[baggerman11]

obama took 716billion from medicare to pay for obamacare. he said that medicare wouldn't be affected but look at the doctors opting out of medicare. raising the age to 67 won't hurt anyone. it's the medicaid (the free health insurance that the working people pay for the non-working people) that needs to be fixed. I say, let's go over the cliff and let obama blame it on the pubs. maybe then he'll cut down on spending money he doesn't have. what a bunch of no-loads we have in the government.

[DJW]

What's a few hundred trillion in unfunded entitlements? Everything is just fine...we'll just take it from the rich.


"I can distribute poverty or I can distribute wealth." - Deng Xiaoping

[YankeeBob]

Originally Posted by James

I'm not old enough to get either but do you think the GOP wanting to cut Medicare and Medicaid is going to go over very well with the older voters? Is that really what needs to be cut? Are those programs really an entitlement?

For fukksake...public education is an entitlement!

[boston62]

Originally Posted by DJW

What's a few hundred trillion in unfunded entitlements? Everything is just fine...we'll just take it from the rich.


"I can distribute poverty or I can distribute wealth." - Deng Xiaoping

Unfunded? Been paying for 40 years into it. Get your facts straight....

[boston62]

Originally Posted by baggerman11

obama took 716billion from medicare to pay for obamacare. he said that medicare wouldn't be affected but look at the doctors opting out of medicare. raising the age to 67 won't hurt anyone. it's the medicaid (the free health insurance that the working people pay for the non-working people) that needs to be fixed. I say, let's go over the cliff and let obama blame it on the pubs. maybe then he'll cut down on spending money he doesn't have. what a bunch of no-loads we have in the government.

The rich couldn't take the hit, they would pay dearly, more than the middle class would. Ya let's go over, and raise capital gains, dividends, taxes. It will never go over, it would be GOP suicide, from the rich and middle class.

[DJW]

Originally Posted by boston62

Unfunded? Been paying for 40 years into it. Get your facts straight....

Here's the "straight facts." You ain't paid "into" anything. Your "contributions" have gone into a general treasury fund to buy F-16s for Egyptian tyrants, highway tunnels for spotted turtles, and obamaphones for welfare queens. Your "contribution" has been spent 16 trillion times over.

In 2011 the US spent 549 Billion on Medicare, it's total income was 530 Billion. That's 20 Billion in hole to start with. By 2014 (11 years from now -at the latest -) the system will be bankrupt...and nobody will get a dime. It won't matter if you're big or tall, fat or think, rich or poor, the money will be all gone.

The US currently spends about 3.6 Trillion a year, our gross receipts are about 2.6 Trillion. That includes your contribution.

Do the math. How much do you think is left over for your 40-years of "paying into?"

[DJW]

Originally Posted by boston62

The rich couldn't take the hit, they would pay dearly, more than the middle class would. Ya let's go over, and raise capital gains, dividends, taxes. It will never go over, it would be GOP suicide, from the rich and middle class.

Again..with those facts..

Obama wants to raise rates on those making more than 200k. It will raise about 70 billion a year.

We have a 1,000 billion a year unfunded spending habit.

Do that math...it will take 140 years of taxes on the rich to cover the losses of just the first year's spending.

Go right ahead. Raise the tax rate. Seriously go right ahead....I hope you do..because at the end of the 5 days worth of spending you've achieved...the rest of us will be waiting and saying..."okay, Karl, now what?"

[Richard001]

Medicare and Medicaid are entitlement programs.
Social Security on paper is paid by the future recipients directly. Social Security has been raided over the years and the money we have paid in is pretty much spent.
If anyone thinks Government is looking out for you and will provide in the future, would you like to buy a bridge?
Anyone between 45 and 55 is pretty much screwed.
Both parties will keep pushing the pain out until it implodes. I think I will take up smoking and hope for a heart attack.

[guydoc77]

Couple thoughts on this:
First, James, do you understand the difference between Medicaid and Medicare? You stated you're "not old enough for either". There is no minimum age for Medicaid.

Second: in my opinion, given the manner in which many seniors access healthcare with absolutely no consideration of the cost, AND, given the manner in which most Medicaid recipients access healthcare, YES, these programs have definitely become entitlement programs. For that matter, Medicaid IS THE DEFINITION of an entitlement program.

See my posts from 11/9. It's a simple fact that both these programs have been in the red and, given current trajectories, they will get more and more into the red. We simply don't have the money any longer. And facts DO matter. Unless there's a sea change in the way we do healthcare, especially end of life healthcare, my hope for the future is very dismal. And for those of you that fantasize that Obamacare is going to fix this, you're in for a very rude awakening.

The solution to the healthcare crisis is, in many ways, 180 degrees in the other direction from the silly games that CMMS is playing now to "reduce costs ". The direction we are headed now will result in far fewer hospitals and resultant markedly restricted access to specialty care. And it won't matter what kind of insurance you have.