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LOUISA VIRGINIA
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Home| About Us| Background | Related Links | Issues | Events | |
LOUISA VIRGINIA
The Problem:
A “false crisis” has been created regarding the potential insolvency of our two most worthy “entitlements” – Social Security and Medicare. Proclamations of doom have threatened that Social Security “won’t be there” in years to come. Having heard this falsehood so often, many young people today are convinced it is true. Medicare has been similarly disparaged by false rumors. Many people are convinced that “Obama Care” will result in a deterioration of health care available to seniors. Actually, the reverse is true. The health care program passed under Obama increases the benefits provided under Medicare and takes huge steps to assure its solvency. Both programs however, do need some “fixing,” but to do so is not as complicated as many believe. Other Entitlements such as Medicare and Veterans health care are similarly relatively easy to fix.
Background:
Social Security is one of the most successful programs in American history. It has been a bedrock of social engineering. It was not intended as a “retirement program” but rather as a “safety net” to assure a minimal level of income for everyone in his or her retirement years. Over the years, demographic changes such as our living longer and population changes such as brought about by the baby boomers, have necessitated changes to the program to keep it solvent. That’s where the problem comes in. Whenever a program with the magnitude of social security comes before it, our congress has to make a political mountain out of a demographic molehill. There are a many non-controversial ways to fix social security such as raising the ceiling of wages that people must pay for it or making it means tested. But nothing simple can be done when you have a polarized dysfunctional congress. Rather that working out a compromise, they reject solution and “kick the can further down the road” making resolution that much more difficult.
Increased medical costs and flagrant waste and abuse threaten the well-loved Medicare Program. One of its biggest flaws was the previously unfunded pharmaceutical benefit provided during the Bush administration. “Obama Care” resolves that problem and does so with projected cost savings of the overall health care program over the long run. There is much work left that must be done to help lower government costs of Medicare, but here again, the solutions are not as difficult as some project.
Medicare is probably the most difficult entitlement to “fix.” This is another example of “unfunded mandates” being impose on the states. Here work is required to remove the financial burden from the states and provide fair and balanced Medicare across the Nation.
The Solution:
The first issue that must be agreed upon regarding Social Security that it remain as a “safety net,” not a giant pork barrel that could be transitioned into “privatized” retirement program. Private insurance companies can provide meaningful enhancements toward retirement for those that want them or can afford to pay for them. To paraphrase a Tea Party slogan, “Keep your privatization hands off my government Social Security.” “Fixing” Social Security would be a simple task for any non-political objective panel to resolve.
Waste, fraud and abuse are rampant in the Medicare Program. The ability of the government to reduce these costly detractions must be strengthened. One problem area that must be resolved regarding all medical costs is to what degree are we to provide the enormously high costs of technological advances that can provide moderate life extensions of near death patients. Some people have referred to this matter as “pulling the plug on grandma.” Yes, we are going to have to make “ptpog” decisions. But we have been making these types of decisions all along. For example, many times a medical decision must be made regarding whether a cancer patient should undergo yet another round of painful chemo treatments. Should we opt to extend their extremely uncomfortable lives a few more months or should we accept the finality of it and provide comforting painkillers to a more peaceful end?
The cost versus benefit of health care must be a consideration in Medicare. Today’s technology has given us untold methods for life extension but many of them are very expensive. Surely we can’t expect Medicare to extend grandma’s life for three weeks if it costs a million dollars a day. Where do we draw the line? Medicare currently has cost versus benefit rules. An example is whether to fund procedures such as gastric bypass surgery. Again, Medicare should be considered as a “safety net” available to all. Cost versus benefit rules should be expanded. Private insurers could cater to those who want “better” base line health care or end of life care.
The simplest solution for the Medicare Program would be to incorporate it into the Medicare Program.
Recent increased funding of Veterans Health Care seems to have resolved problems with this well-earned entitlement. If more funding is needed, full bipartisan support is available to provide it.