They're not senators, they're
insurance salesmen.
You’re a Republican senator. How do you sell a plan to privatize Medicare?
One way is to fashion the massive overhaul as an extension of the private system members of Congress enjoy—the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan—and then trumpet the merits of that system over existing Medicare.
“We have to convince [seniors] this is something better,” said Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC), flanked by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Rand Paul (R-KY), authors of a new Medicare privatization plan, at a Capitol press conference on Thursday. “If we thought Medicare was better, we would be on it as senators.”
DeMint is 60 years old. Graham is 56. Paul is 49. Medicare eligibility age is 65.
Okay, they're
lying insurance salesmen.
They admit the plan "Obamacare" is for seniors, which even though they hate Obamacare and want to repeal it for everybody else, they think is fine for seniors. Whatever, as long as traditional Medicare eventually dies.
And die it would under their plan, which would shift Medicare patients into private plans with subsidies, starting in 2014. The program would be means tested, and the eligibility age would gradually rise. Whether or not subsidies to seniors would keep up with the rising costs of health care is a question, but what's not a question is that it likely wouldn't actually save money, since Medicare continues to be more cost effective than private insurance.
These salesmen have a big job on their hands, convincing seniors that the Medicare they know and love would be better if they were once again thrown to the private industry insurance wolves. Considering the traditionally high satisfaction of elderly Americans with Medicare, they're really going to have to pull a fast one there.
