Paul Ryan's Plan to Change Medicare Looks A Lot Like Obamacare

[applegrove]

by Alison Kodjak at NPR

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/11/26/503158039/paul-ryans-plan-to-change-medicare-looks-a-lot-like-obamacare

"SNIP..........


And the irony of the Ryan Medicare plan, say some health policy analysts, is that it would turn the government program into something that looks very much like the structure created for insurance plans sold under the ACA.

"The way it works is comparable to Obamacare," says physician and conservative policy analyst Avik Roy, founder of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.

Ryan's plan would set up "Medicare exchanges" where private insurance companies would compete with traditional government-run Medicare for customers. Obamacare exchanges sell only private insurance plans.

People would get "premium support" from the government to pay for their insurance under the Ryan Medicare plan.


.............SNIP"

[Hoyt]

1. What's interesting is that we have that system now. Medicare beneficiaries can sign up for

Medicare Advantage plans offered by Cigna, Blue Cross, Humana, etc. 30% of Medicare beneficiaries choose those plans voluntarily over traditional Medicare.

If, and it is a big if, the government can be trusted to keep the premium subsidy or voucher reasonable, I'm not convinced it's a bad option as long as beneficiaries can choose the traditional plan. That's a lot of "ifs," and is therefore worrisome, plus you can't trust the GOPERS. But the basic idea is not new since it pretty much already exists and 30% of beneficiaries like it enough to continue using it when they can change back to traditional Medicare at certain times. Now, raising the age, etc., are entirely different issues.

[DK504]

2. Ryan ain't too smart

Does Ryan realize that we pay for Medicare? That we pay for Part D? Does he think that insurers aren't making money hand over fist? Does he remember his buddy Gov. Scott was major part of the biggest Medicare fraud in the history of Medicare?

Does Ryan understand anything?

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. He understands whatever the insurance lobby wants him to understand. n/t

[JBoy]

3. "We're going to repeal Obamacare and replace it with exactly the same thing

except we'll call it Ryancare. See how much better that is?".

Like the Christians co-opting Pagan festivals to stamp them out.

[Turbineguy]

5. So we'll save money

by changing from a 5% administrative overhead to a 15% administrative overhead. Of course they could save money if they streamlined the "Benefits Denied" letter.