If the government controls the entire health care system, the recent congressional debate over Medicare is a tart foretaste of what Americans can expect. Last week the Senate passed the Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H.R. 6331) just weeks after the House passed the same bill by lopsided majorities. It could not have happened without congressional Republicans. In the face of the special-interest pressure, the Republican leadership in the House simply collapsed. In the Senate, the Republican leadership was simply abandoned. In his dramatic July 10 …
One of the major points liberals deploy when arguing for socialized medicine is how much government run health care will save Americans in administrative costs. And it is true: Medicare does not spend nearly as much on oversight of their programs as private insurance does managing their claims. But then again, private insurance isn’t nearly as big of a sucker as Medicare is. The USA Today reports: Scammers have found a lucrative source for squeezing money from Medicare: dead doctors. Over seven years, the federal program for the elderly and …
The Left is winning the big health care policy victories with the help of rank and file GOP members and their feckless Republican Leadership in Congress. The latest example is the enactment of H.R.6331, The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act. In spite of threatened Presidential veto, the bill passed the House this week by a lopsided 355 to 59 vote. The bill does nothing at all to reform the Medicare dinosaur, and every provision simply reinforces its worst features, bureaucratic central planning and its mind numbing price controls. …
Last week the New York Times finally reported the fact that Europe’s carbon capping scheme is a complete disaster causing higher energy prices, weakening industries, and forcing jobs overseas … jobs … all while failing to reduce carbon emissions. Today the New York Times continues their streak of decent economic reporting, this time exposing Congressional efforts to keep market forces out of Medicare. From the NYT: For years, Congress has set the price for walkers and various medical equipment, and it has consistently set them well above the market rate, …
The fight to rein in exploding Medicare spending through exposure to market forces took two giant steps back this week. First, the House voted early this week to set aside regulations that would have allowed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to buy medical equipment through competitive bidding. Then yesterday, the House voted to raid one of the most popular market-based health care initiatives: Medicare Advantage. Since its creation in 2003, Medicare Advantage has helped more than 9 million Medicare recipients enroll in private health maintenance organizations (HMOs), …
Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) writes in The Nation, “As healthcare costs rise at double-digit rates, fewer and fewer manufacturers and small businesses can offer comprehensive coverage to their employees.” This is undoubtedly true. Stark’s solution? Medicare for All: “With Medicare as a model, we can fill the growing gaps in health coverage and ultimately weave together a stable, comprehensive, affordable system for Americans of all ages.” And how will Medicare keep health care costs so low? Stark again: “Medicare has lower administrative costs than any private plan on the market.” …
The year 2008 is not just an election year. It is also the year that marks the beginning of a demographic transformation that threatens the fiscal stability of this country. Already, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid eat up 42% of the federal budget. But this year, the first of the nearly 80 million baby boomers begin to draw out, instead of contribute to, our entitlement programs. The consequences of this shift will come quickly and will be staggering. Already Medicare spends more each year than it takes in. In just …
Former Supreme Court associate justice Sandra Day O’Connor and former Ambassador James R. Jones kick off this week’s Youth Entitlement Summit in today’s Washington Post: Idealistic young voters have turned out in record numbers this year — and not a moment too soon. How our next president represents the interests of young Americans will define not only his legacy but that of an entire generation of political leaders. … The Government Accountability Office and many, many others have documented the magnitude of the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid bills that …
If current trends continue, Social Security and Medicare spending will jump from 7.5% of GDP today to 13% by 2030. Entitlement spending at those levels will cripple the U.S. economy. The liberal/progressive answer to this problem is to push for government-run health care that will control the meteoric rise in health care costs. The problem is that the federal government has a terrible track record at reducing costs, especially when it cones to health care. Medicare is a great case in point. The federal government spends billions of dollars every …
Heritage senior policy analyst Brian Riedl has taken a close look at the budget passed by Congress this week and notes that it: Assumes tax increases topping $3 trillion over the next decade, or $3,135 per household annually Includes 64 reserve funds that could be used to raise taxes by hundreds of billions more Increases discretionary spending by 8 percent for the second consecutive year and does not terminate a single wasteful program Completely ignores the impending explosion of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid costs Creates rules that bias the …
