Medicare is one of the most emotional and politically sensitive issues facing America.
On one side we have an approach that relies primarily on reducing payments to health care providers and Medicare Advantage health plans coupled with scores of trial programs attempting to make the delivery of health care more efficient. If all else fails a board of fifteen people will make additional recommendations to trim Medicare costs (but not the benefits). On the other side is a plan that gradually takes the direct approach of simply limiting what the government will spend (adjusted for inflation). The hope is that market forces will place competitive pressure on the system to manage costs.
The introduction of the so-called Ryan plan to reform Medicare got me to thinking. What is the average person’s opinion on Medicare reform? To find an answer to this question I placed a poll question on quinnscommentary.com No, this poll is not scientifically accurate, but I believe it provides a reasonable indication of where people stand on this question. The poll was open to anyone around the Country who wanted to participate; people could not vote twice.
Here is the simple question: What is your opinion of the Ryan plan for Medicare? [you can see current results on the poll page on this blog]
I was a bit surprised at the responses to this poll (from 1,073 people) because the opinions are fairly balanced which may mean that Americans are as confused as our politicians about what to do.
Some forty-two percent of voters support the Ryan-Widen approach.
Thirty-six percent appear to think not much should be done to change Medicare and twenty-four percent think the President’s current approach is better than the Ryan approach.
Following is the detailed breakdown (rounded) of the responses:
Strong medicine but necessary 17%
I support it (Ryan plan) 24%
Too radical, not necessary 4%
It will destroy Medicare 11%
I paid for my benefits, leave Medicare alone 21%
Obama plan is better 24%
It seems to me we should be a bit concerned with the attitude “I paid for my benefits leave Medicare alone” because Medicare cannot be left as is. And, current beneficiaries did not pay for their benefits, their payroll taxes paid for the benefits of the people who were on Medicare while these folks were still working. Likewise the 41% of people who support the Ryan-Widen approach, essentially a defined contribution with multiple choices for beneficiaries, indicates there is fairly wide-spread understanding of the scope of the problem. The hospital trust fund is running out of money, and the Part B benefits are continuously adding to the federal deficit.
Beneficiaries pay only 25% of the cost of Part B with the rest coming from general revenue (and the people who pay Social Security income taxes) with no limit on what can be spent. Even though Medicare sets what it will pay for a given service, we have pretty much given the health care system a blank check when it comes to the number and type of services provided. If we want to preserve Medicare for future generations, we must find a way to make it sustainable.
Whether we have found the answer in any strategy to date remains to be seen.
Related articles
- Romney Interrupts Debate To Clarify Only ‘Future People’ Would Lose Medicare (VIDEO) (addictinginfo.org)
- Analyzing health-care statements (politico.com)
QUINNSCOMMENTARY 