NY Times: Proposal for Medicare Is Unlike Federal Employee Plan

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/health/policy/02medicare.html



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WASHINGTON — House Republicans say their budget proposal would make Medicare work just like the health insurance that covers federal employees, including members of Congress. But a close examination shows the two plans are very different, and the differences help explain why the Republican plan has set off a political uproar.

Under the federal employees’ health plan, which covers eight million people, the government pays a fixed share of premiums. So the federal contribution generally keeps pace with rising premiums, which in turn reflect rising health costs. No such guarantee exists under the Republicans’ plan to transform Medicare, approved by the House on April 15 as part of a budget blueprint to cut federal spending and deficits.

The federal payment for a typical 65-year-old would be set at $8,000 a year in 2022, about the same as what Medicare is expected to spend under current law.

In later years, the federal payment would be increased to reflect the age of a beneficiary and general inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index. But health costs and insurance premiums have, for years, been rising faster than consumer prices in general.
So, the Congressional Budget Office says, under the Republican plan, Medicare would pay a shrinking share of beneficiaries’ total health costs, and seniors would pay a growing share. For a typical 65-year-old, that share would be 68 percent in 2030, more than twice what it would be under current law, the budget office said.


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That is under $15,000 per year. Many seniors receive far less than $1200 per month.

Seniors have to eat and pay rent and buy Christmas presents for their children like everyone else. Where in the world are seniors supposed to find $8,000 per year for medical costs?

The Republicans' plan, as usual, has no connection to reality.

Call it the"Die Quickly (and as painfully as possible)" plan.

Glad the NYT is FINALLY catching on to THAT Republican lie. Do Congressmen and Senators get "vouchers" for medical care?