Discussion for article #234723
I don’t claim to know everything that’s going on in this bill, but somehow, I’m getting this odd, admittedly irrational, feeling that I need to check my pants pocket to make sure that my wallet is still there.
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“The legislation requires seniors who make more than $133,500 to pay more for Medicare coverage starting in 2018, and reduces spending on “first dollar” coverage of supplemental Medigap plans enjoyed by some from 2020 onward.”
I’d like to know how much more seniors making more than $133K would pay. As others have noted, the success of programs such as Medicare is partly due to the universal benefit they provide. Charging more to the well-off could make it more vulnerable politically if affluent seniors feel they are being forced to pay for “those people.”
Overall, however, it seems good. Looking forward to seeing more details.
Orange boy is incapable of not looking shifty under any circumstances whatsoever.
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“Don’t look now,” said Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC), “but we are actually governing.”
Wow. That tells us everything we need to know about the R party.
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Apparently the model now is that the incredibly rich are off limits for any tax increase, so we’ll just soak the upper middle class. This will erode support for Social Security and Medicare as the people who paid the most into these programs as taxes throughout their working life find themselves getting asked to pay again in higher co-pays and premiums in retirement, and for exactly the same medicare coverage everybody else gets. How long before they start asking for ways to “opt out”?
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The REAL question isn’t the House, but what Mitch McTarball (R-BP) and loonies like Ted Cruz (R-GoldmanSachs) and Marco Rubio (R-Poland Springs) will do TO it.
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She sounded genuinely surprised, but since the House will be in recess beginning tomorrow through April 13, Ellmers will be able to reflect on just what “actually governing” means from the comfort of her living room.
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The proposed budget, simply “a messaging document” the Rs said, included this:
The budget would turn Medicaid into block grants to the states, cutting health care spending for the poor by $900 billion. The food stamp program would also be turned into block grants and cut by hundreds of billions of dollars. Special education, Pell Grants, job training and housing assistance would all be cut. Medicare would transition to a system where future seniors would be encouraged to use government-funded vouchers to purchase insurance in the private market.
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Yes, but I think this is separate from the proposed R budget and has a good chance of getting passed.
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It has to be a real thorn in the lawmakers sides in order to get anything done. This is why they have a job in the first place and obviously the blind hatred of a black President blocked that fact from the Republican legislators.
Kumbaya is bullshit, this isn’t a party, its governing America and supposedly our representation going to bat for us. They don’t get brownie points for doing what they are elected to do.
They need to get back into the saddle and take care of a laundry list more of necessary things.
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It’s a repellent look inside the republican mind.
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Oh, I agree. There’s nothing more the Republicans would like than to raid the Medicare and Social Security trust funds.
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I hope the slippery slope Republicans are on will lead them to ditch the Hastert rule. Then, their amazement at actually doing their job will slowly recede and be replaced by civic pride in working to solve the country’s problems.
Of course, that might just be the 11am booze talking…
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baby steps.
It doesn’t have anything to do with “those people”, it has to do with people making 133K thinking “I paid about 4 times what the average American paid in Medicare taxes, and now I’m getting less than the average benefit.”
Correct on your point. I pretty much said the same thing upthread, but don’t you think there will be demagoguing about how the affluent seniors will now be forced to pay for those who refused to take financial responsibility for their retirement years?
That was my point, part of the campaign to undermine the safety net programs is to cut funding, but also to undermine the widespread support they currently enjoy.
This proves republicans cannot govern without Democrats.
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The republican budget passed the house, and that’s where it will die.
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No, I meant the Medicare doc fix overhaul has a good chance of passing.
On the R budget I agree – straight to the circular file. We’ll probably cobble another CR at the absolute last minute.
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