There is so much wrong with the Ryan plan, there should be a law against it. Here are just a few points:
The plan trades one centralized plan administrator, Medicare, into as
many bureaucratic administrators as there are health insurance
companies. Medicare's administrative costs are below 3% of total expenditures.
Health insurance companies have three times the administrative costs
plus profits. That means even deeper cuts to health care since
corporate health insurance administrative costs approach 21% total expenditures.
The Ryan plan relies on hallucinogenic numbers. Take the CBO projections for government, beneficiary costs, and beneficiary other expenses for 2022 and 2030. They are $20,017 and $24,587 respectively. Now call up your insurance company and see what the health insurance cost is for a sixty-five year old? These are fully loaded costs which include premiums, deductibles, and out of pocket expenses. Congratulations if you find one today for the 2030 figure of $24,587. The numbers in the Ryan plan come straight from Fantasy Island.
The Perfecta
Ryan's Medicare plan is the perfecta for the ruling class.
It enshrines the long ago discredited Social Darwinism theory. Popular among the elite of the late 19th century, the theory argues that, "the strongest or fittest should survive and flourish in society, while the weak and unfit should be allowed to die." That's exactly the way the world looks to Paul Ryan and his patrons. Economic outcome determines existential reality. If you can't cut it, you left behind to die. But first you have to suffer a while.
The second winner for the ruling elite comes in the form of a further bailout for health insurance carriers. These are the folks who Just say no on a regular basis and have trouble processing a simple claim. President Obama's health care plan bailed out these companies by ignoring the compelling rationale for a single payer system. That wasn't enough for the elite. The Ryan plan puts them back in business with full membership in the ultimate death panel, privatized Medicare. Their profits will be endless.
A Rational Approach
A solution to the rising costs of health care is available. It requires a change in behavior on the part of all members of Congress and a rational look at helping citizens take care of their health care problems.
The behavior change is straightforward. Members of Congress and the executive branch have to actually think then translate those thoughts into words. The thinking process starts with intellectual honesty. You don't take one part of the budget, Medicare, and beat the program senseless in order to address a much larger budget.
Just a shred of intellectual honesty would move those in charge to all areas of the budget. How about a military budget that assures the nation's defense without the requirement for world domination? Lets end the current wars overseas and pledge no future preemptive invasions like Iraq.
Stop balancing the budget by forcing seniors to suffer and die needlessly.
That eruption of rational behavior and discussion would lead to some useful analysis of the soaring costs of health care.
One area not examined or discussed concerns the concentration of health care costs. The research is already there from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Policy. Nearly fifty percent of health care costs occur within just 5% of the population. The higher the age, through the 65-79 year old group (see graph below), the higher the concentration of expenditures on health care for this group.
The incumbent geniuses look at this data and produce a plan that eliminates the offending age group with extreme prejudice. Their opponents, just six degrees away on the political spectrum, are silent on the very real cost savings opportunity.
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