Like I wrote earlier, if Congress doesn’t vote to do things that increase the deficit, and implements the Affordable Care Act as written, we don’t have a deficit problem. But Congress really really wants to increase the deficit. Here’s Charlie Dent not controlling health care costs: A bipartisan majority of House lawmakers is pressing Medicare [...]
57% Say They’d Be Worse Off Under RyanCare
June 24, 2011 by · 4 Comments
No surprise here: Republicans are still losing the argument on Medicare. RyanCare continues to languish in the low 30′s in every poll: By a margin of 57 percent to 34 percent, poll respondents say they would be worse off if Ryan’s plan to convert Medicare to a system of subsidized private health coverage were adopted. [...]
Bernie O’Hare Thinks We Spend $200 Billion a Year on Defensive Medicine
June 17, 2011 by · 2 Comments
In an advertisement for Charlie Dent’s tort reform bill, Bernie O’Hare tries to sneak this whopper past us: The practice of defensive medicine – when doctors order tests and treatments in order to protect themselves against frivolous lawsuits – is estimated to cost as much as $200 billion annually. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analyses indicate [...]
House GOP Trying to Censor Democrats’ Constituent Mail on Medicare
June 15, 2011 by · 3 Comments
Brian Beutler: A bitter, behind-the-scenes fight over the GOP’s Medicare phase-out plan has bubbled out into the open, and now Democrats are openly charging Republicans with censoring their communications with constituents. Several House Democrats are petitioning House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), in a letter first reported by Roll Call, to step in and stop Republicans [...]
Medicare Is the Solution, Not the Problem
June 13, 2011 by · 8 Comments
Paul Krugman shows that Medicare is much better at controlling costs than private insurance: If Medicare costs had risen as fast as private insurance premiums, it would cost around 40 percent more than it does. If private insurers had done as well as Medicare at controlling costs, insurance would be a lot cheaper. There’s no [...]
Only 32% of Voters Support GOP Plan to End Medicare
June 9, 2011 by · 2 Comments
Ezra Klein: [T]he latest Washington Post/ABC News poll included a question about the Ryan budget. The phrasing, I think, was as vague and favorable as Republicans could hope for: “ Republicans in the House of Representatives approved a budget plan that would change Medicare, the government health insurance program for the elderly. These changes would [...]
One Last Time on Tort Reform
June 9, 2011 by · 1 Comment