Our Health Policy Matters

As Congress lurches today toward what at best will be another short-term “solution” to the debt ceiling and government shutdown debacle, there is a reason to believe that it will never effectively tackle entitlements.  What we need and what we want are two different things.  And this inept Congress – which in the eleventh hour of its most recent manufactured crisis is still posturing over Obamacare – has no idea how to balance the two.  Source: US House Website We need our entitlements – that’s why they exist.  But we also don’t want to pay for them. Take the Affordable Care Act – in the crosshairs of so many politicians – as an example.  Next to no one wants it all repealed.  Coverage for pre-existing conditions, a guarantee that insurance won’t be cancelled even after an illness hits, and tax credits to lower the cost of health insurance are all needed and immensely popular. But these things cost money.  When Congress passed the ...

As Congress lurches today toward what at best will be another short-term “solution” to the debt ceiling and government shutdown debacle, there is a reason to believe that it will never effectively tackle entitlements.  What we need and what we want are two different things.  And this inept Congress – which in the eleventh hour of its most recent manufactured crisis is still posturing over Obamacare – has no idea how to balance the two.  Source: US House Website We need our entitlements – that’s why they exist.  But we also don’t want to pay for them. Take the Affordable Care Act – in the crosshairs of so many politicians – as an example.  Next to no one wants it all repealed.  Coverage for pre-existing conditions, a guarantee that insurance won’t be cancelled even after an illness hits, and tax credits to lower the cost of health insurance are all needed and immensely popular. But these things cost money.  When Congress passed the ...

The debt ceiling and deficit reduction command the attention of Congress this week.   Its members are trying to find trillions of dollars of cuts to balance the budget. So why are some members of Congress trying to do something that is guaranteed to increase the already sky-high cost of the Medicaid program?   Do they want to drive us further into debt? The Senate Gang of Six wants to deep six the CLASS Act before it takes effect.   The CLASS Act is the new national long term care insurance program that will take effect next year.   It will cost the federal government nothing and is projected to save the Medicaid program billions of dollars. The Medicaid program, as most U.S. citizens now know, is a federal/state partnership resulting in different plans in every state.   In 2010, roughly 55 million people were insured through state Medicaid programs.   If they were all combined into one plan, Medicaid today would be the single largest health insurer in...

The debt ceiling and deficit reduction command the attention of Congress this week.   Its members are trying to find trillions of dollars of cuts to balance the budget. So why are some members of Congress trying to do something that is guaranteed to increase the already sky-high cost of the Medicaid program?   Do they want to drive us further into debt? The Senate Gang of Six wants to deep six the CLASS Act before it takes effect.   The CLASS Act is the new national long term care insurance program that will take effect next year.   It will cost the federal government nothing and is projected to save the Medicaid program billions of dollars. The Medicaid program, as most U.S. citizens now know, is a federal/state partnership resulting in different plans in every state.   In 2010, roughly 55 million people were insured through state Medicaid programs.   If they were all combined into one plan, Medicaid today would be the single largest health insurer in...

The U.S. debt debate is heating up as Congress and the President argue about the “cut, cap, and balance” plan and move closer to the August 2 nd deadline to raise the debt ceiling. The debt debate is important.   Our U.S. debt is now over $14 trillion, and we need to do something about it.   But Medicare cuts are on the table, and war spending is not. So I would like to propose a switch.   Take Medicare cuts off the table, and put war cuts on it. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost this country over $1.2 trillion since 2001.   The debt ceiling wouldn’t even be an issue if it weren’t for these, because we never paid for them.   We got the two men we wanted.   It’s time to pay the bill and get out. On the other hand, the 2011 summary of the annual report of the Medicare Trust Fund trustees shows that we still have surpluses in the Medicare Trust Funds.   The Medicare Part A Trust Fund had $271.9 billion in it in 2010.   The Part B and...

The U.S. debt debate is heating up as Congress and the President argue about the “cut, cap, and balance” plan and move closer to the August 2 nd deadline to raise the debt ceiling. The debt debate is important.   Our U.S. debt is now over $14 trillion, and we need to do something about it.   But Medicare cuts are on the table, and war spending is not. So I would like to propose a switch.   Take Medicare cuts off the table, and put war cuts on it. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have cost this country over $1.2 trillion since 2001.   The debt ceiling wouldn’t even be an issue if it weren’t for these, because we never paid for them.   We got the two men we wanted.   It’s time to pay the bill and get out. On the other hand, the 2011 summary of the annual report of the Medicare Trust Fund trustees shows that we still have surpluses in the Medicare Trust Funds.   The Medicare Part A Trust Fund had $271.9 billion in it in 2010.   The Part B and...