Smoke & mirrors in Congress

We’ve already got problems in health care delivery in the US. Some of it is in Medicaid. That and more, including problems with Medicare, would get worse if the reform legislation currently written somehow got enacted.

“Exacerbating existing problems” is how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services puts it, and they’re run by the federal government.

This Washington Times editorial explains, going back to what health care reform was promised to do, and what it’s shaping up to threaten to do.

President Obama has angrily denounced those who warned that Democratic health care proposals will reduce Medicare benefits. “Medicare is another issue that’s been subjected to demagoguery and distortion during the course of this debate,” he said during the course of his Sept. 9 address to Congress. After all, he promised that if people liked their Medicare and Medicaid coverage, “nothing” will “change the coverage or the doctor you have” and “the only thing this plan would eliminate is the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud.” That simply is not the case.

Democratic health care bills in both houses of Congress clearly contradict the president’s promises. House Republicans asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services how the health care bill approved by the lower chamber on Nov. 7 would impact government health care programs. Would slashing $500 billion from Medicare and Medicaid, as proposed in the House bill, only eliminate waste? Half of the health care bill is purported to be paid by these yet-to-be-seen cuts.

Important to note what the editorial states next, that Medicare already reimburses doctors and hospitals below cost, and that’s part of the proposed cuts. How cutting those costs could eliminate waste is “unfathomable”, say the editors.

The waste that is going to be eliminated is not even specified in the bill, but the Democrats merely state that they know it is out there somewhere. One of the proposals to eliminate the Medicare Advantage program will obviously force those currently using it to change their coverage.

There’s not even ‘plausible deniability’ in this.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is run by the administration and Congress, but on Nov. 21, even the centers couldn’t deny the obvious truth: The cuts will be “exacerbating existing access problems” in Medicaid. “It is reasonable to expect that a significant portion of the increased demand for Medicaid would not be realized,” the centers reported. After translating this jargon from bureaucratese, the meaning is clear: People will want more medical care than will be available; not everyone will be able to get treatment; and there will have to be rationing.

This is becoming more evident to more people and support for government-run health care is dropping, leading to this conclusion:

Mr. Obama might lash out at his opponents for criticizing Democratic plans for government health care, but he is the one engaging in “demagoguery and distortion.” No matter what the president tries to claim, $500 billion in cuts from Medicare and Medicaid will indeed reduce services rendered to the old and the poor.

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