Dear Seniors: Paul Ryan Wants You Bankrupt First, Then You Can Die

Here’s an outline of what Paul Ryan wants to do to Medicare:

Eligibility Age Increased from age 65 to age 69 1/2.

Automatic payment reduction – If Medicare payments exceed prior fiscal years’ payments by 145%, providers automatically paid 1% less

Medicare recipients age 55 and older may be covered by current traditional Medicare at Social Security Retirement Age.

Younger than 55 not eligible for current traditional Medicare – They will receive a voucher for about $11,000 (adjusted for increased risk) which will be paid directly to the insurer they choose with the balance remaining, if any, to be paid to a Medical Savings Plan (MSA) for “additional health costs”. The voucher will be reduced based on income, so that beneficiaries with income between $80,000 and $200,000 (160,000-400,000 for couples) receive 50%, and beneficiaries with incomes over $200,000 ($400,000 for couples) receive 30%.

Medical Savings Accounts – Tax-free account for Medicare recipients. Medicare and Medicaid recipients with income less than 100% of the FPL would be eligible for a MSA via Medicare to cover deductibles for the “average Medicare high-deductible health plan”. Those with income of 100-150% of the FPL receive 75% of the full amount.

For those of you reading this who are not on Medicare now, plan on signing over all your assets to insurance companies, hospitals and providers if Ryan’s plan becomes reality. You get a fixed amount to go buy insurance. There are no cost controls. There are no incentives for health insurers to keep costs down. There is only a flat amount that the government will use to “help” you.

If you’re under 55 and become disabled? Voucher.

If you’re the parent of a disabled child? Voucher.

Don’t be fooled by the rationing argument these idiots are trying to use. Rationing happens now, today. This minute. Outcomes-based medicine is not rationing. It’s using funds wisely.

A tax increase would end this debate entirely. An end to the wars would end this debate entirely.

Changing the entire nature of Medicare to a subsidized private insurance system would end our lives. Do not be fooled by Rep. Ryan’s snow job. This is a man whose family depended on Medicare and Social Security in order to get through college so he could argue for taking yours away.

In other contexts, we call that sociopathic behavior.