Here's a reason why "NHC" would actually fulfill Whodey's goal of reducing the spending. As a part of the plan, it includes various reductions in Medicare spending. It is pretty much impossible politically to directly cut spending for Medicare, but one of the very few ways I can imagine it happening is if it was part of an overhaul healthcare reform effort. Many who would otherwise scream loudly about Medicare cuts can be persuaded to go along with it. And the net effect of the bill according to the CBO would actually be to reduce the deficit.
I agree that in the present form, there are too many taxes and mandates for your liking. But one approach the GOP or conservative groups could have taken was to demand even MORE cuts to Medicare (and fewer new taxes) as a condition of supporting Obama's plan. This was their big chance to chop away at a program they supposedly hate. With Obama so desperate for a bipartisan deal, the GOP could have gotten a lot done. But instead, the GOP passed up this rare opportunity and insisted that Medicare was a sacred rock that couldn't be touched.
• Medicare. The bills would make many changes to how Medicare pays doctors and other health care providers. Taken as a whole, the new rules aim to pay doctors for good patient outcomes instead of paying them per procedure, also called "fee-for-service." The bills also would eliminate excess payments to the Medicare Advantage program, which typically offer seniors extra benefits beyond what traditional Medicare offers. An independent payment advisory board would make recommendations on reducing cost growth and improving the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries. Their recommendations would take effect unless Congress overrules them.
Nothing prevented the Demos from passing the bill. Bunning evene said he would vote for it, if they found the money someplace to pay for it. Have the payoffs become so important that not a dime of the US$3T+ budget can be moved to pay unemployment comp? How about unfunding studies of fruit fly mating behavior, or porpoise training for the Navy, or payolla for the National Endowment for the Arts, or something?
I have been unemployed for over a year. Nothing NObama has proposed has helped me, but it sure has enriched his buddies in Chicago, NYC and the SEIU.
Filibuster everything
03 Mar '10 16:58
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