Romney

[courseofhistory]

It will actually increase premiums for seniors. Of course some of us already knew that!

...There is no question that Romney would fundamentally transform the Medicare program from what it is now—a single-payer insurer that guarantees coverage to all American seniors—into a "premium support" program in which the government gives seniors vouchers they can use to buy private insurance or stay in traditional Medicare. Perhaps the key feature of Romney's plan, though, is that it wouldn't actually take any particular steps to bring down health-care costs. It simply assumes that market competition will do the job: "With insurers competing against each other to provide the best value to customers, efficiency and quality will improve and costs will decline."

The only problem is that there's no reason to think that will actually happen. There is already competition in today's private insurance market for non-seniors, and costs continue to rise—and rise at a faster rate than costs in Medicare. We also have the experience of Medicare Advantage, which is very similar to what Romney proposes. For some time, Medicare beneficiaries have been able to have their benefits administered by private plans. This was supposed to bring down costs through the market competition Romney touts. It hasn't; Medicare Advantage plans are significantly more expensive than traditional Medicare.
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LINK

 

[jwoodie]

So the solution is............do nothing?

 

[courseofhistory]

So the solution is............do nothing?

No, but Romney's solution isn't the answer and it is one of his major platforms. It just shows that he doesn't know what he's talking about and won't be the problem solver some people think he is.