Medicare Part D: Republican Budget-Busting The key parts are: 1) Republicans were keen to make sure that the legislation enacted was theirs, because the Democrats were certain to include cost containment for drugs in their legislation. It was widely believed that if the federal government used its buying power to pressure drug companies to cut drug prices, the cost of providing drugs to Medicare recipients would be substantially reduced. But forcing down drug prices would diminish the drug companiesâ profits and Republicans were adamantly opposed to that. Consequently, despite their oft-repeated opposition to new entitlement programs, they got behind the new drug benefit, now known as Medicare Part D, and made sure there was no cost-containment provision. From the beginning, Republicans decided to forgo dedicated financing for Part D. Except for trivial premiums paid by recipients, the entire cost would fall on taxpayers. Moreover, Republicans refused to raise the Medicare tax or cut spending to cover Part D. Hence, the deficit increased by virtually the entire cost of the program. Through 2012, Medicare Part D added $318 billion to the national debt (see âGeneral Revenueâ on Page 111 in the 2013 Medicare trustees report). That same report projects that Medicare Part D will add $852 billion to the debt over the next 10 years. 2) The record also shows that such âdeficit hawksâ as the current House speaker, John Boehner of Ohio; the current House majority leader, Eric Cantor of Virginia; and the current House Budget Committee chairman, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, voted for Medicare Part D all the way. Although out of Congress, the former speaker, Newt Gingrich, wrote a commentary in The Wall Street Journal on Nov. 20, 2003, urging all Republicans to vote yes. ------------- The Party of the Stupid are only concerned about deficits when the other party has the power.
All of medicare is $600 billion scam. In 2006 medicare announced ''only'' 7 percent of its payments were fraud. In 2008 The New York Times reported fraudulent billing at 31.5 percent, and that medicare had aggressively hidden fraud from outside auditors.
Obamacare.... We legislated a move from what was a 5-1 ratio previously to a 3-1 ratio so the young and healthy now subsidize the old and sick even more. So essentially this was another case of the Baby Boomers winning and the young losing. They could have called this Boomercare. Ironically, young voters supported Obama 2-1 over Romney and Romney won the older vote. Quite interesting indeed.
I don't like any of these gov't medical boondoggles, but to bring up Medicare Part D during the middle of Obamacare -- by far the biggest train wreck yet? It takes a moron of epic proportions to try that. BTW, Stupidity: 2006 just called and wants their news item back.
It figures there is no real rebuttal to the line : "The Party of the Stupid are only concerned about deficits when the other party has the power." We all know the Teadiots are a sham. Perhaps before commenting on Obamacare one would actually understand what the hell it is in the first place. Unlike the constant deficit adding Medicare Part D, the total budgetary effect of Obamacare would reduce the deficit for the next 10 years by $210 billion CBOâs Analysis of the Major Health Care Legislation Enacted in March 2010 Bottom of page 2. I wonder what would happen to the republican mind if that walnut shape gland inside their brain were to be removed. Would these people be normal?
Convertahillbilly is desperate to deflect attention away from his beloved messiah and said messiah's health care cluster fuck.
Pretty sure he's a she. Probably some crinkled old banshee sitting outside Sacramento and bowing to the Pelosi shrine regularly.