If you honestly want to fix Medicare and Medicaid

[Anonymous]

Get your act together before it looks like a desperate, vote-grabbing ploy. http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/gop-budget-plan-cuts-deeply-into-domestic-programs-reshapes-medicare-medicaid/2012/03/20/gIQAxFbQPS_story.html?hpid=z1


Honestly, I am interested in alternatives to the current system. I think there are some interesting possibilities in a plan that ties benefits to those of Congress.

But the only commitment I see from your party is to re-election. I mean WTF, Ryan just proposed a completely different plan a year ago. And your own party, instead of trying to create something workable, just slinked away from it. You can't take the insurance plan that retirees are counting on for the next 20 years, toss it up in the air and swing sticks at it like you are hitting a pinata. And when you come up with bright ideas on Medicare in the middle of the primary season, that's exactly what it is.

Honestly I would love to see what you are willing to do with this idea in 2013.

[Anonymous]

What's wrong with Medicaid? When I worked for the state, the Medicaid program had 4.5% administrative costs compared to private insurance that generally claims 20-30% administrative costs. Overall medical inflation ran about 6% a year when private insurers were increasing rates 13-20%. We had a pretty high saturation point (getting eligible people to actually enroll and use the services). We did have some trouble getting certain types of providers in different parts of the state, but modifying the contractual requirements for bids helped really mitigate that. It wasn't perfect, but I've also never seen a private insurance plan that was, either. It was a great model to show how a public, single payor plan could work.

Medicare, now that's a whole different story.

[Anonymous]

Really? You think the Ryan plan for Medicaid -- "throw money at the states and let them figure it out" -- and Medicare -- "give seniors a few bucks to offset the cost of private insurance, which no one will ever sell them in a million years" -- is a genius solution?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? You think the Ryan plan for Medicaid -- "throw money at the states and let them figure it out" -- and Medicare -- "give seniors a few bucks to offset the cost of private insurance, which no one will ever sell them in a million years" -- is a genius solution?

Did anyone say "genius solution"?