Medicare and the Budget Debate

I am glad the debate over fixing Medicare has begun. It's an important debate with profound consequences for every American. But in mind, the proposal announced yesterday by Paul Ryan is just a jumping off point.

Never accept a first offer.

Medicare serves mostly people 65 and older, which is about 10%-12% of the population.

It eats up about 23-30% of the total Federal Budget. In the range of: $4,000,000,000,000 per year.

About 30% of the cost of the program is for patient care in the last year of their life: $1.33 trillion

Some people wonder if it's worth $1.33 trillion dollars to extend a terminal patient's life for a year, but it's a tricky situation that is always dealt with on a case by case basis, and people understandably always want as much care and time for/with their loved one as possible. But if you remove the personal emotion from the equation, it does not make economic sense to spend $1.3 trillion dollars on something that provides no return, and only puts of the inevitable for a very short time. It seems harsh, but it's important to understand the reality of the situation. $1.3 trillion dollars would be enough to pay the FULL college tuition of every American with billions left to spare; just to put it in perspective. Extend the life of terminal/elderly by one year, or have free college for every American?

But then again, kids don't get to vote and the elderly do...

Everyone knows its a dicey situation for politicians to tackle, which is why it has taken so long to confront. No one wants to be the one to take away benefits, or do the ACTUAL WORK of fixing the broken system. Many people that try, just end up getting "hurt" by it. But we no longer have the luxury or financial ability to not do anything...

One of the MAJOR problems with Medicare is it audits LESS than 5% of the claims. It literally pays anything and EVERYTHING no questions asked. The rampant fraud and abuse of Medicare is costing America billions, hundreds of billions. This process and way of handling claims must be corrected immediately. It's not even that hard to do.

No one in America should be allowed to suffer. There is just no reason for that. But on the other hand, it doesn't make sense and is not good for the country to spend 30% of of the revenue the Federal Gov collects on healthcare for 10% of the population. Just reducing that to 20%, and shifting that 10% to young people, maybe healthy programs to make them healthier would dramatically and profoundly change America for the better.

The idea of leaving Medicare as it is for some, but basically gutting it for the rest is an idea that does not sit well with me at all. It would also do NOTHING to correct the waste, fraud and abuse mentioned above.

The whole program, the way it is run for everyone needs to be fixed. Some older Americans might not like it, but this is about what is best for the country, FOR ALL AMERICANS. And ultimately, there is plenty of money to give people all the care they need, this is not about taking away benefits, it's about correcting inefficiency and waste.

There needs to be more involvement from people in their healthcare. I think there should be a small fee assessed for all treatments and procedures, and that people should have to sign off on all items that Medicare is billed for. This would prevent a lot of waste, and make people think about treatments, rather than have the Gov just pay them, without knowing anything.

Another idea I have is giving people a health savings account. They have a specific amount of money deposited into their healthcare account -- only for use in healthcare -- and it is up to them to save it up or spend it. If they need more money they will have to apply for it, and have it be reviewed. Again, adding personal accountability will control costs and improve care.

It's time to take the politics out of the debate, and inject real solutions. This is not about what's best for politicians, the healthcare industry, or certain demographics over others, this is about what is best for America, as a whole.

Lets keep it that way.

I also think that

Review: Limitless

Original. Fast. Smart. Cerebral. Well done.

Really enjoyed this film.

Bradley Cooper did great. The direction was great. The style was well done. The script was quality. A few plot holes, but nothing that kept me from getting into and enjoying the story.

I love the premise. "A pill that allows you to use your whole brain, to have a super-IQ"... so postmodern. It's interesting because such medications/research are no doubt in development, somewhere in the world already. Essentially, once humans link their brains with computers, it will have the same effect as the pill in this movie.

I kept thinking about it for about a week after going to see it, so that's when you know it was good.

The movie was made for under $30 million too, I heard. Very impressive.

Definitely reccommend it.