According to PolitiFact, “the idea that the Paul Ryan budget proposal would ‘privatize Medicare’ is Mostly True.” According to Time Magazine, “If Ryan’s plan is adopted as is – and it won’t be – absent an individual mandate but with guaranteed issue and community rating, private insurance prices in the individual and small-group market would go through the roof. This would lead to more uninsured Americans.” An analysis by the Chairman’s Staff of the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Senate finds that under Ryan’s plan, “Health Care Expenditures Would Double for Elderly in Every State.” The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that “seniors would end up paying almost twice as much out of their own pockets – or more than $12,510 a year.” Ouch. Finally, as the Center for Economic and Policy Research explains, under the Ryan Plan:
…rising health care costs will quickly make a Medicare equivalent plan unaffordable to most beneficiaries. Also, since costs rise as beneficiaries age, a Medicare equivalent plan will become less affordable to the same beneficiary as she gets older. Finally, this plan implies a huge transfer of income from beneficiaries to health care providers and insurers, since the cost of delivering the same quality care will be substantially higher under Representative Ryan’s plan than under the existing Medicare system.
That’s what Mitt Romney is strongly embracing, in his desperate (pathetic) attempt to beat back Newt Gingrich. Every senior citizen in America needs to know this, as does everyone who’s currently counting on receiving Medicare when they retire. And, needless to say, none of those people should vote for Mitt Romney.
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