Roy Blunt: "Medicare has never done anything to make people more healthy"

[ccharles000]

The Missouri Democratic Party has posted video of comments from Roy Blunt made this past weekend, in which Blunt states: "We've had Medicare since 1965, and Medicare has never done anything to make people more healthy. If there's any opportunity for more healthy activity, it's going to be, again, a private, competitive..."

It's an incredible claim, but consistent with his comments a few weeks ago that it would have been best if Medicare and Medicaid had never been created. This may be new information for Blunt, but a lot of his constituents are much healthier because of Medicare, and they like it very much.

From the National Journal:

According to a national CAHPS survey conducted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2007, 56 percent of enrollees in traditional fee-for-service Medicare give their "health plan" a rating of 9 or 10 on a 0-10 scale. Similarly, 60 percent of seniors enrolled in Medicare Managed Care rated their plans a 9 or 10. But according to the CAHPS surveys compiled by HHS, only 40 percent of Americans enrolled in private health insurance gave their plans a 9 or 10 rating.

http://www.firedupmissouri.com/content/roy-blunt-medicare-has-never-done-anything-make-people-more-healthy

[bigdarryl]

1. So dick head give up your medicare if it's that bad

UNBELIEVABLE !!!!!!!!

[old mark]

2. Blunt does not need to see this.....

Things like truth and facts only make him nervous.


mark

[JayMusgrove]

3. Geeze, that guy must be living on a distant planet or in

another dimension..through the looking glass. Jaberwocky

[Cleita]

4. Well, it kept me from going blind by paying for cataract surgery.

It kept me from having broken hips, with bone scans and medication to keep my bones from deteriorating further. It keeps me in asthma medication so I don't have to choke to death. It has made preventive treatment available to me so I don't get cancer. I think Medicare has done a lot for me. He's really being disingenuous to make statements like that.

[JuniperLea]

5. When cornered, their lies just become more blatant...

It's very hard to fight lies. It's like putting the genie back in the bottle. No one is going to forget how bad medicare is because that is the first thing they heard.

[timeforpeace]

9. I agree with the phrase, but don't think he's the one being cornered at this time. Anyway, his

statement is folly since Medicare was intended to be the payor of last resort to provie a safety net for the elderly and infirm. The elderly and infirm don't get better, Roy. It wasn't designed to do preventative medicine, and can't be changed to do so now.

[pyoom]

6. ...That's patently false.

How does giving people access to the healthcare they need not make them more healthy?

[Kber]

12. Because 100% of the people who enroll in Medicare eventually die.

:sarcasm:

So logically, Medicare is bad for you.

Right?

And these folks have the nerve to accuse US of trying to off the old folks.

(And welcome to DU btw!)

[PA Democrat]

7. Roy Blunt, on the other hand has done everything possible to keep healthy the

big fat profits of the insurance companies.

I'd imagine a sizable percentage of today's seniors would be dead already if it weren't for Medicare.

[Mimosa]

8. I keep hoping I make it to age 65 LOL n/t

[fadedrose]

It's probably the last really good thing you have to look forward to..

I doubt you'll be having a baby...

[PatSeg]

10. Hmmmm

Roy Blunt must not have any seniors in his constituency. Is he really trying to commit political suicide? Someone should remind him that seniors love their Medicare AND they vote!

[eShirl]

11. my husband's a lot healthier with his new kidney

[avaistheone1]

13. I am confident all these Republicans have no plans to remove their parents Medicare benefits from

them - or provide their parents with private health insurance out of their own pockets.

Roy Blunt is just another big liar.

[fadedrose]

14. Medicare removed a cataract for me today

and it will remove another in two weeks. The doctor helped, of course. Hopefully I will be able to pass driver's license vision screening.

I think we should keep medicare and get rid of Roy Blunt. Has he ever made anyone healthier?

[Raven]

15. I think Medicare has made people less dead.

[UrbScotty]

16. Have Congress's healthcare benefits ever made anyone healthy?

[Blue_In_AK]

17. My 83-7ear-old mother-in-law who just had quadruple bypass surgery

would probably disagree.