Guess what you get when you cut half a trillion dollars out of Medicare over the next decade. Barack Obama and the Donk Collective insist all you get is “savings”.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, what you get is….benefit cu…

If half of them, 1/6, were to retire, the present shortage would become acute, and continue to deteriorate, because it will no longer be an attractive career. I couldn’t blame any physician for making that decision.

Haven’t seen anything about nurses and ancillary staff, mostly salaried. Stories from the UK and Canada indicate they are so overworked that they burn out.

The prospect of waiting, who knows how long, to see an overworked, underpaid, and discouraged physician is not enticing.

Which is pretty much the plan from the git go.

rockmom on September 23, 2009 at 10:11 AM

That explains a lot. No wonder AARP is on board with this POS.

I am convinced that a great many of them really do not understand issues well enough to write about them. The actual journalism staffs have been slashed to a dangerous level.

AnninCA on September 23, 2009 at 9:41 AM

That has never stopped them from pontificating on other things they don’t understand. Epic fail Ann.

I’m learning more from “moms” this morning than I could from any politician.

Rovin on September 23, 2009 at 10:17 AM

IMHO I think our country would be better served with more moms and grandmoms in congress than politicians, but of course we’d have to give up doing valuable work that actually benefits society.

But stuff like this is going to be shoved into the conference report at the end, you can be sure.

rockmom on September 23, 2009 at 10:07 AM

Or hidden in an earmark? I’m learning more from “moms” this morning than I could from any politician.

I don’t know if it is in there, but I think 1)Dems would want it and 2)I agree it would have major implications.

Not right now, but it isn’t for lack of trying. Waxman had stuck a provision in his bill allowing qui tam lawsuits – which means any lawyer can file suit against a private insurer to “enforce the law.” This would have been a gravy train for trial lawyers. Republicans ferreted it out and made Waxman delete it. But stuff like this is going to be shoved into the conference report at the end, you can be sure.

rockmom on September 23, 2009 at 10:07 AM

If this happens, the trial lawyers in the 39 states that have enacted tort reform will have a heyday and the tort related costs to the healthcare system will skyrocket.

How “OLD” is Michelle’s mother? Is Obama trying to get rid of her faster?

PappaMac on September 23, 2009 at 9:55 AM

Heh. How far did that apple fall from the tree?

“I love Michelle, but she’s killing me with this constant criticism She just seems so bitter, so angry all the time.”

That, btw, is a totally racist thing to say. ‘Course, he said it to a typical white person, so there you go.

Does anyone have any idea if the Baucus bill will include a preemption provision that would mean that the states like Mississippi and Texas that have enacted meaningful tort reform will have their laws preempted so tort reform will actually go backwards?

txmomof6 on September 23, 2009 at 10:03 AM

Are you serious? Can you find me a link to this preemption provision? A provision of this magnetude would have a huge impact on this debate. I’ll do some searching on my own, but if you’ve got a link already, please forward it—-and thanks txmom.

Or, private insurers will be forced to increase the premiums they charge for Medicare Advantage Plans. There really isn’t any other option. They’ll have to eliminate Advantage Plans or charge more for them. It’s as simple as that.

Meezles on September 23, 2009 at 10:00 AM

They can’t. Medicare caps their premiums. They will have to reduce benefits and most seniors will choose to drop the plans as a result and go with conventional Medigap plans (the largest of which, ahem, is run by AARP.) Democrats know this. They aren’t dumb enough to propose an outright repeal of Medicare Advantage but they know they can squeeze it enough that it will become unpopular with seniors.

This is getting to be a pattern:
WASHINGTON – Congress’ chief budget officer on Tuesday contradicted President Barack Obama’s oft-stated claim that seniors wouldn’t see their Medicare benefits cut under a health care overhaul.
The h…

This is getting to be a pattern:
WASHINGTON – Congress’ chief budget officer on Tuesday contradicted President Barack Obama’s oft-stated claim that seniors wouldn’t see their Medicare benefits cut under a health care overhaul.
The h…

Does anyone have any idea if the Baucus bill will include a preemption provision that would mean that the states like Mississippi and Texas that have enacted meaningful tort reform will have their laws preempted so tort reform will actually go backwards?

txmomof6 on September 23, 2009 at 10:03 AM

Not right now, but it isn’t for lack of trying. Waxman had stuck a provision in his bill allowing qui tam lawsuits – which means any lawyer can file suit against a private insurer to “enforce the law.” This would have been a gravy train for trial lawyers. Republicans ferreted it out and made Waxman delete it. But stuff like this is going to be shoved into the conference report at the end, you can be sure.