How To Beat GOP Medicare Cuts

As stated in Forbes, late last year, while most of the world was distracted by the national election, House Republicans advanced their agenda on a Medicare “reform plan.” Don’t be fooled by the mashing of “reform” into a program that covers nearly 70 million people. The Republicans want to eventually privatize it, raise the eligibility age and cut benefits.

Although President-elect Trump says he opposes any changes to Medicare and Social Security, the GOP, led by House Speaker Paul Ryan, is optimistic that they can carve up the old-age health program. Trump has nominated Rep. Tom Price (R-GA.) to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the agency that oversees Medicare. Price has long favored trimming Medicare along with Obamacare and Medicaid. While the majority of the American public has consistently told pollsters that they are against Medicare privatization, the GOP may push ahead with its agenda anyway. They also want to cut Social Security benefits as well, claiming they will save money.

The GOP’s reasoning is this: By unleashing “competition,” you’ll somehow save money on your healthcare expenses, as will the government. With their Medicare plan, which they call “premium support,” you’ll be handed a fixed voucher so that you can buy a private health insurance policy. What happens if that voucher won’t cover the cost of a decent policy? It’s unclear what the GOP would do to “support” you. Would the voucher amount be indexed to a realistic gauge of healthcare inflation for retired people? Since the party wants to downgrade inflation protection for Social Security payments, that seems unlikely.

CLick the link below to view the full article :

Forbes – How To Beat GOP Medicare Cuts