House Republicans Vote To Kill Medicare

After just ten days of debate and discussion, and with most Americans probably knowing little of its contents, House Republicans successfully rammed through their 2012 “austerity” budget plan in a Friday party-line vote, 235-193. Not a single Democrat voted for it while four Republicans voted against it.

The GOP’s proposal, devised by Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, will almost certainly dire in the Senate and set up yet another budget showdown between House Republicans, Senate Democrats and President Obama.

The successful vote also presents challenges for the GOP considering the scale of the proposal and the controversy of its details: a ten percent reduction in the top corporate and personal tax rates; almost $6 trillion in cuts for domestic spending; an overhaul of the Medicaid program; and, the most contentious item in the legislation, the transition of Medicare from a guaranteed government health service to a system of private insurance vouchers given to seniors that qualify.

House Republicans forced through a partisan budget blueprint on Friday that, if enacted into law, would pare federal spending by an estimated $5.8 trillion over the next decade while reshaping Medicare, a proposal certain to instigate a fierce clash with Democrats.

The bill has no chance of passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate. But it will effectively serve as the House Republican bargaining position in talks with the administration and Senate over how to reduce annual federal deficits and the accumulated national debt.

The action came a day after Congress finally concluded its fight over spending for the current fiscal year.

The vote in the House on the Republican blueprint, drafted by Representative Paul D. Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin and chairman of the Budget Committee, was 235 to 193, almost entirely on party lines. Not a single Democrat voted for it; four Republicans voted against it.

The proposal, which would cut maximum corporate and personal tax rates and would overhaul the Medicaid health program for the poor as well as Medicare, is the new House majority’s most ambitious effort so far to show that it wants to rein in spending and aggressively shrink the federal government.

“The spending spree is over,” Mr. Ryan said. “We cannot keep spending money we don’t have.”

Ryan’s plan, now officially the GOP’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year and beyond, would sever one of the most popular and beloved safety net programs created by the federal government. In a bid to slash spending on “entitlement,” the Republican budget would quite literally abolish Medicare for everyone now under the age of 55.

The effects on low-income seniors would be dramatic. Under the GOP proposal, seniors would see their health care costs double with a dual blow of eliminating Medicare and mandating deep cuts in funding for Medicaid.

Another catch is that Medicare may not be safe for those at or above the cut-off age of 55. While those Americans will not be forced off of traditional for the private voucher plans devised by Rep. Ryan, they will face a weakened system that could “lure” healthier individuals to private plans, leaving ill seniors in a skeleton Medicare that would deliver higher costs and fewer choices.

In 2022, newly-eligible beneficiaries would have to enroll in a private plan, but existing beneficiaries (those who are over 55 today) would also have the option of leaving traditional Medicare. As Ryan’s budget put it, “While there would be no disruptions in the current Medicare fee-for-service program for those currently enrolled or becoming eligible in the next ten years, all seniors would have the choice to opt into the new Medicare program once it begins in 2022. No senior would be forced to stay in the old program.”

Ironically, the Republican plan for Medicare closely resembles “Obamacare,” the health care reform package championed by President Obama and passed by congressional Democrats that continues to be savagely opposed by “Tea Party” activist and Republican lawmakers.

One GOP senator actually commented to Talking Points Memo that the GOP’s health care delivery system for seniors is “just like Obamacare.”

The long-term Republican budget plan proposed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) phases out Medicare as a guaranteed, universal, single-payer system and replaces it with a government-subsidized private insurance program. If that sounds familiar, it should.

Besides facing partisan opposition from Democrats and the White House, the GOP’s Medicare proposal is decidedly unpopular with Americans. Though not yet polled on the specifics of the Republican budget passed on Friday, nearly every poll that gauges public opinion finds overwhelming support for making nothing more than minimal changes to Medicare.

The most recent Gallup poll – released just this week — shows that 61 percent of respondents supported either no changes at all or only “minor” tinkering with Medicare.

Ryan’s budget proposes to completely restructure Medicare, replacing the current single-payer system administered by the government with an insurance premium subsidy system for seniors to buy private health insurance. Americans’ general reaction to changing Medicare — even when described as a way to control program costs — is not positive. Thirty-one percent would like to see either a complete overhaul of Medicare or major changes made to the program, while a combined 61% say the government should make only minor changes or not try to control Medicare costs.