ERs are an expensive way to treat ongoing or preventable diseases. No ER does chemo, ever. Infected ulcerous feet are a lot more expensive than daily diabetic medicine. That’s not even quality of life, it’s economics. And it’s a myth that the ER is free if you don’t have insurance. Maybe it is if you are homeless and without any assets already.
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Yep. And THE WORST aspect of this is…
We lost the power of the veto pen.
Some of the most heinous sh*t imaginable will be enacted because, remember, - Rump won’t be reading things like PDB’s and bills: Jared will translate all that stuff to him and tell him “Sign there.”
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I wouldn’t be so sure. The goal is to privatize it, which is a euphemism for LOOTING it. And given that looting is the ONLY thing Rethuglicans are actually good at …
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I’ve been blogging about this elsewhere. This is a broken promise by Trump not to touch Medicare. Huge effect on everyone. This is the first big issue that Democrats should be all over.
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Why is it when they say “reform,” it always means “destroy?”
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Welp, thank you for handing struggling Dems a winning cause to fight for. God bless you for being a bunch of overreaching dumbfucks.
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Holy smoke. That’s your take? Are you saying that this an “olds” vs “millennial” issue?
Only those over 67 in 2020. Lots of near- retirees are going to be left out in the cold… like me.
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If Congress has the same sh*tty healthcare options we will have, then maybe they would think twice…BUT they have gold-standard healthcare and are protected from their stupid ideas.
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Do you trust Ryan? “Grandfathered” Don’t trust him at all.
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I’m from Colorado - have just called my reps. Here’s the breakdown:
Senator Gardner® - The staffer who I talked to said Sen. Gardner supports Medicare as it is now. Pretty straightforward answer, but, since there’s an “R” behind his name, we’ll see what pressures will be brought to bear on him.
Senator Bennet(D) - The staffer said he “hasn’t talked to Sen. Bennet specifically about Paul Ryan’s plan” but notes the senator’s previously stated support for Medicare as it is now.
Representative Polis(D) 2nd district - The staffer said he hadn’t spoken specifically about this with Rep Polis, gave boilerplate language that the Rep. supports Medicare. I told him that wasn’t enough, given the timeline, and I would be checking back frequently to see who he sides with in this particular legislative fight.
I would note this is a classic example of “The Shock Doctrine” as written about by Naomi Kline in her 2007 book. It is a (sometimes enviable) characteristic of the R’s that they play the long game and look for an opportunity, such as now, when the opposition is in disarray. I doubt all the folks who voted for Trump really want to turn Medicare into a voucher system. The plan to only apply this to those 55 and younger, however, plays to the “I got mine” lizard brain of those people. Didn’t I read recently that conservatives have larger amygdalas (i.e. lizard brains)than progressives?
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Nope. This is like manna from heaven for the Dems. Remember the town hall meetings in 2009 and 2010: “Keep the gov’t out of our medicare”? There’s nothing more popular than medicare, and voters will turn on the Repubs who dare to tinker with it. Moreover, elderly voters may be exempt from this proposal, but they worry about their kids (even if it ain’t always vice versa).
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And it leaves many of the adult sons and daughters to step in and pay when their elderly parents can’t. That affects things like college savings for the grandchildren, home ownership and whatever upward mobility anybody without obscene wealth even has left. This shit Republicans are going to pull over the next 4 years are going to ripple on for decades, and not for the better.
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Tactical alert: that 6-8 months time estimate could be unreliable. It could be much sooner. It would be a mistake to kick this issue down the road in favor of other debates.
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Not yet. It will be allowed, then pushed to devolve that way.
The corporations have done this unions since the 80’s. Have a decent pension program that’s well funded. Then say it won’t cover new workers. Older workers get frightened and allow the new hires to not have the same protections. This builds (ON PURPOSE) resentment. First chance the younger members have a chance to maximize their pay, even if hits the pension bennies of the older workers/retirees, they take it. They already don’t have the benefit, feel like they were screwed, and the company wins.
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Yep. If you thought the housing market was kinda shaky, this weakens it further. Why?
Because if your choice is to see one or both of your elderly parents die a slow, painful death OR take out whatever equity you had in your home to help them, life gets ugly.
@nemo Agreed. I think one of the mistakes that the Bush maladministration made was in keeping the door open to any sort of “debate” on the matter. That won’t happen again.
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Is medicare that much of a drain on the budget, wtf is the deal?
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It’s not, but it quite a slush fund that can line a whole lot of pockets if “privatized”. Much like social security.
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You are so correct How do you think those in the late 30’s to mid fifties are going to react when they are told …see this nice beautiful single payer system. Guess what, you can’t play . You’ll be getting something like your current health care only worse . The best part is those younger than that . You’ll be helping ma and pa shop around for insurance with their vouchers
Fuckers are insane or so totally removed from the common experience that they would suggest such a nightmare
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Anybody out tere willing to hire a 70 yr old? including benefits?
yah, didn’t thinks so.
OK then, it’s flipping burgers I guess.
My one hope remaining is the GOPers have forgotten what electricity feels like since Medicare and Social Security should be the 3rd rail of politics.
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