Medicare under Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) is in extremis, and cannot survive in its current form. It needs major reform.
This is the Medicare Trustees report : https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/ReportsTrustFunds/downloads/tr2011.pdf
As expected they painted a rosy picture. That prompted the Medicare Actuary to post a dissenting report. : http://healthblog.ncpa.org/unprecedented-medicare-chief-actuary-disavows-trustees%E2%80%99-report-publishes-an-%E2%80%9Calternative-report%E2%80%9D/ The graph clearly spells out what will happen to Medicare. It will decline and will cross the Medicaid line in less than 10 years. Why will this happen? What Medicare recipients are blissfully unaware of is, Medicare taxes are woefully inadequate in covering Medicare expenses. This has been happening over decades. Currently Medicare taxes cover only 50% of Medicare costs. The rest is made up from general revenues.
Medicare had an unfunded mandate of $38 trillion at the time Obamacare was passed. More importantly, Medicare payments to providers do not cover costs of providing the care. This prompted Mayo Clinic Arizona to limit Medicare : http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aHoYSI84VdL0 The Clinic lost $840 million on Medicare the year before. As the IPAB (Independent Payment Advisory Board) under Obamacare cuts payment to providers, fewer doctors and clinics will accept Medicare, that brings costs down, but limits access to care for seniors. The long waiting lines to see a doctor or specialist seen in socialized medicine will begin. Obamacare hastens the demise of Medicare by borrowing $800 billion from an already bankrupt Medicare, to start a new entitlement.
This is the Medicare Trustees report : https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/ReportsTrustFunds/downloads/tr2011.pdf
As expected they painted a rosy picture. That prompted the Medicare Actuary to post a dissenting report. : http://healthblog.ncpa.org/unprecedented-medicare-chief-actuary-disavows-trustees%E2%80%99-report-publishes-an-%E2%80%9Calternative-report%E2%80%9D/ The graph clearly spells out what will happen to Medicare. It will decline and will cross the Medicaid line in less than 10 years. Why will this happen? What Medicare recipients are blissfully unaware of is, Medicare taxes are woefully inadequate in covering Medicare expenses. This has been happening over decades. Currently Medicare taxes cover only 50% of Medicare costs. The rest is made up from general revenues.
Medicare had an unfunded mandate of $38 trillion at the time Obamacare was passed. More importantly, Medicare payments to providers do not cover costs of providing the care. This prompted Mayo Clinic Arizona to limit Medicare : http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aHoYSI84VdL0 The Clinic lost $840 million on Medicare the year before. As the IPAB (Independent Payment Advisory Board) under Obamacare cuts payment to providers, fewer doctors and clinics will accept Medicare, that brings costs down, but limits access to care for seniors. The long waiting lines to see a doctor or specialist seen in socialized medicine will begin. Obamacare hastens the demise of Medicare by borrowing $800 billion from an already bankrupt Medicare, to start a new entitlement.
