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Dems show their true colors on this medicare bill...
- Thread starter Longhorn85
- Start date
atlantabiolab
New member
CheeseDick said:
Don't you normally do that on this board?
The same people who oppose social programs defend corporate welfare. The same people who say get rid of Social Security and that your a loser if you don't "save" for your old age oppose laws to prevent Enrons, Worldcoms, and Mutual Fund Trading scandals.
The new Medicare is another gift to big buisness...which is why Repub's backed it and Dems opposed it....
From USA Today:
Winners
•The makers of name-brand prescription drugs will be big winners. They once fought against a Medicare drug benefit for fear that it would prompt the federal government to impose limits on drug prices, as foreign governments do. That's also the case now for drugs distributed to veterans by the Veterans Affairs hospital system and to the poor through Medicaid.
But the drugmakers and their powerful trade organization, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, won a critical provision from Republicans that prohibits the government from negotiating prices or discounts. That will be left to private insurance companies and drug middlemen, known as pharmacy benefit management companies. Critics say that forces Americans to continue paying the world's highest drug prices. Perhaps reflecting the good prospects, drugmakers' stock prices rose Monday.
•Pharmacy benefit management companies, which currently handle drug claims and some mail-order services for employers and health insurers, stand to gain. They are likely to be tapped to negotiate with drug companies on price. They may also provide mail-order drug services for seniors who enroll in the drug plans.
•Doctors will be winners because they'll get more federal money. The American Medical Association will win increases in compensation rates for doctors who treat Medicare patients. Instead of a scheduled 4.5% rate cut that was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, they'll get a 1.5% increase.
•Rural hospitals will get $25 billion in higher payments to compensate for a low volume of patients and a disproportionate share of low-income patients. Small urban hospitals that have a disproportionate share of low-income patients also will get higher payments.
•HMOs and other health insurers stand to gain business and federal aid. These managed-care plans will be encouraged to create private alternatives, subsidized with $14.2 billion from the federal government, aimed at coaxing seniors out of traditional Medicare. Insurers also will receive incentives to offer new stand-alone drug policies for seniors not in managed-care plans.
•Employers that offer health plans to their retired workers will qualify for federal help. The bill sets aside $86 billion in subsidies and tax breaks over 10 years to encourage them to maintain those benefits.
•Affluent workers could save more money tax-free. The bill will create new Health Savings Accounts that will allow all taxpayers, not just seniors, to save and withdraw money tax-free for medical expenses. Taxpayers who opt for high-deductible health insurance plans could put aside up to $5,150 for a family policy, increasing annually with inflation. Critics say it's another way for the wealthy to shelter income from taxes.
The new Medicare is another gift to big buisness...which is why Repub's backed it and Dems opposed it....
From USA Today:
Winners
•The makers of name-brand prescription drugs will be big winners. They once fought against a Medicare drug benefit for fear that it would prompt the federal government to impose limits on drug prices, as foreign governments do. That's also the case now for drugs distributed to veterans by the Veterans Affairs hospital system and to the poor through Medicaid.
But the drugmakers and their powerful trade organization, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, won a critical provision from Republicans that prohibits the government from negotiating prices or discounts. That will be left to private insurance companies and drug middlemen, known as pharmacy benefit management companies. Critics say that forces Americans to continue paying the world's highest drug prices. Perhaps reflecting the good prospects, drugmakers' stock prices rose Monday.
•Pharmacy benefit management companies, which currently handle drug claims and some mail-order services for employers and health insurers, stand to gain. They are likely to be tapped to negotiate with drug companies on price. They may also provide mail-order drug services for seniors who enroll in the drug plans.
•Doctors will be winners because they'll get more federal money. The American Medical Association will win increases in compensation rates for doctors who treat Medicare patients. Instead of a scheduled 4.5% rate cut that was scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, they'll get a 1.5% increase.
•Rural hospitals will get $25 billion in higher payments to compensate for a low volume of patients and a disproportionate share of low-income patients. Small urban hospitals that have a disproportionate share of low-income patients also will get higher payments.
•HMOs and other health insurers stand to gain business and federal aid. These managed-care plans will be encouraged to create private alternatives, subsidized with $14.2 billion from the federal government, aimed at coaxing seniors out of traditional Medicare. Insurers also will receive incentives to offer new stand-alone drug policies for seniors not in managed-care plans.
•Employers that offer health plans to their retired workers will qualify for federal help. The bill sets aside $86 billion in subsidies and tax breaks over 10 years to encourage them to maintain those benefits.
•Affluent workers could save more money tax-free. The bill will create new Health Savings Accounts that will allow all taxpayers, not just seniors, to save and withdraw money tax-free for medical expenses. Taxpayers who opt for high-deductible health insurance plans could put aside up to $5,150 for a family policy, increasing annually with inflation. Critics say it's another way for the wealthy to shelter income from taxes.
Testosterone boy
New member
Worldcomm whacked me for $42 for 29 minutes of calls to NY, Chicago, and Laramie, WY.
They were one of the biggest backers of Bush.
"Birds of a feather...................."
They were one of the biggest backers of Bush.
"Birds of a feather...................."
CheeseDick said:
Hope it came out OK.
If you believe that more is better than less, you can advocate nothing more than bare bones social programs.
atlantabiolab
New member
hooch said:
Some may, I don't. You still have not proven shit by ad hominem rhetoric.
Show us how this bill will benefit the nation in the long run...immediately a lot of things may look hunky dory, but it is not hard to look down the road and see the problems it will produce. Not to mention that it is the work of irrational thought processes.
Longhorn85
New member
Testosterone boy said:
The fact that you equate success with your hourly wage says it all.
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