I just heard some Republican Rep on MSNBC claiming that Medicare would be insolvent in 2016 -- as a justification for why the President needs to "negotiate" with Republicans.
Something about that, struck me as "wrong." And what I just found out, illustrates all the more, WHY Republicans are afraid of the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare).
I just re-learned this about the ACA,
-- It's designed to succeed; It's designed to reduce costs; It's designed to solve Solvency.
Continue reading to take the Solvency refresher course too ...
Here are just a few of the things that the ACA is designed to do (with next to no help from the Republican Repealers to do them, by the way):
The facts about ObamaCare: Impacts on seniors
by Paco Maribona is a Certified Senior Advisor; thenewsguard.com -- Sept 25, 2013
[...]
So, let's look at its impacts on seniors aged 65 and over
* Closing the Medicare Part D Rx gap or "Donut hole". From 2010-2020, ACA’s reducing the amount seniors on Part D Medicare pay for prescriptions once they get in the gap. [...] to virtually nothing in 2020.
* Extending Medicare Solvency. ObamaCare extends Medicare Solvency from 2016 to 2024. The term "solvency" means when Medicare will start to spend more money than it takes in. It does not mean the program would end then. ACA already raises Part A taxes on wages by 0.9 percent on earnings over $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples; it also raises a 3.8 percent tax on non-wage income i.e., dividends, interest, rents etc. Removing the cap on Medicare taxes for wages over $113,700, would extend Medicare solvency for 75 years.
* ObamaCare reduces Medicare spending growth from 6.8 percent now, to 5.5 percent annually, per the Kaiser Family Foundation, resulting in $716 billion in savings. This will not reduce benefits to seniors as misstated by some, but via over payments to hospitals, reducing hospital payments for seeing uninsureds, lower payments to medical equipment and home care, reducing subsidies to Medicare Advantage plans, the rest savings from waste, fraud and abuse.
[...]
Less out of pocket costs; More taxes on the wealthy and capital-owner class; bending the Cost Curve of Health Care towards reasonable.
-- No wonder the Republicans hate it SO MUCH (because of that evil R-word Revenues); besides the Republican Medicare Solvency Plan is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better: (Not!)
"Don't Get Sick ..."
link
In other words, What Republican Plan!?
(PS GOP: "Repealing ObamaCare" 40+ times ... IS NOT A PLAN!
And holding the country hostage to your defunding demands, is just plain Stupid.)