Post by ShivaTD on Sept 30, 2013 12:20:06 GMT
This thread is probably a "non-starter" because I doubt the "conservatives" on this forum will address it. Conservatives express disapproval of Obamacare but offer nothing to my knowledge that is better. Let us assume that Obamacare didn't exist and identify the problems that existed without it.
1. Medicare was under funded. It only paid about 90 cents on the dollar for the medical services it provided and that resulted in most private clinics not accepting Medicare patients. Only hospitals with government subsidies would accept new Medicare patients and only then because they had to so that they would receive the government subsidies.
What was the "conservative" solution to increasing the revenue for Medicare so that it would be funded to pay for the expenditures necessary? Simply freezing the expenditure or tying it to the overall cost of living, not the cost of medical services which are higher, was not a solution because it would simply erode the ability of those to pay for the increased costs of medical services that are rising faster than the general cost of living.
Medicare required more revenue so where was that revenue to come from?
2. Medicaid was also under funded. It paid slightly less than Medicare for services and failed to provide medical services for all of those that required medical services but couldn't afford them. This left millions of people without the medical services they required because Medicaid failed to meet it's original Mission Statement of providing medical services for those that couldn't afford them
Medicaid required more revenue so where was that revenue to come from?
1. Medicare was under funded. It only paid about 90 cents on the dollar for the medical services it provided and that resulted in most private clinics not accepting Medicare patients. Only hospitals with government subsidies would accept new Medicare patients and only then because they had to so that they would receive the government subsidies.
What was the "conservative" solution to increasing the revenue for Medicare so that it would be funded to pay for the expenditures necessary? Simply freezing the expenditure or tying it to the overall cost of living, not the cost of medical services which are higher, was not a solution because it would simply erode the ability of those to pay for the increased costs of medical services that are rising faster than the general cost of living.
Medicare required more revenue so where was that revenue to come from?
2. Medicaid was also under funded. It paid slightly less than Medicare for services and failed to provide medical services for all of those that required medical services but couldn't afford them. This left millions of people without the medical services they required because Medicaid failed to meet it's original Mission Statement of providing medical services for those that couldn't afford them
Medicaid required more revenue so where was that revenue to come from?