Don't worry about Social Security
David S:
Looks like we don’t need to worry about social security. Medicare’s problems will make that look like a walk in the park.
http://www.detnews.com/2005/politics/0503/02/pols-104673.htm
WASHINGTON -- A looming Medicare shortage is seven times the size of the one that Social Security faces and nearly four times the entire federal debt. It is not being addressed by President Bush and Congress, and, to some, that is just as well.
Social Security, which Bush has hoisted atop his domestic agenda, is $3.7 trillion short of what it will need for benefits over the next 75 years, under the latest federal projections. Medicare, the health care program for the elderly, must find an estimated $27.8 trillion.
Dave from Michigan:
medicare needs to be fixed and reformed
The Duke:
Medicare is a very well run program that ahppens to provide something that is too expensive to provide. Bush has not tried to reform it because there is no adequate reform. Medicare's costs track those of general health care, and until that is curbed there is no solution to Medicare.
Bono:
Quote from: John Ford on March 02, 2005, 10:37:26 PM
Medicare is a very well run program that ahppens to provide something that is too expensive to provide. Bush has not tried to reform it because there is no adequate reform. Medicare's costs track those of general health care, and until that is curbed there is no solution to Medicare.
Yea, Instead, he prefered to increase the spending with feel good measures.
David S:
Quote from: John Ford on March 02, 2005, 10:37:26 PM
Medicare is a very well run program that ahppens to provide something that is too expensive to provide. Bush has not tried to reform it because there is no adequate reform. Medicare's costs track those of general health care, and until that is curbed there is no solution to Medicare.
John would you agree that a competitive free market is the best system for delivering quality goods and services at the lowest prices? I firmly believe that. But our current health care system doesn't operate that way. IMO this is due in part to our expectations of our health insurance and it part due to the government run programs Medicare and Medicaid. The purpose of insurance should be to cover unusual expenses that we cannot afford out of pocket. Now however, we expect our insurance to cover everything, from office visits to prescription drugs. The insurance companies still have to pay for these things plus they add a markup to cover their costs and profit, so they raise their rates to cover it. That inceases the overall cost. Worse than that is the fact that we tend to not be good shoppers when someone else is paying. We don't look for the best buys as we would when we make any other purchase. Normally the pricetag is a very important consideration in the competitive free market system which helps to keep prices low. When someone else is paying, that effect is lost and prices skyrocket. Medicare and Medicaid add to this problem.
Until we get healthcare operating as a competitive free market, prices will continue to climb rapidly.
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