In the run-up to the vote on ObamaCare in 2009, which occurred in the wee hours of the morning during a sordid, secretive display reminiscent of the old closed-door smoke-filled-room deals for which Congress was known in the 1900s, many conservatives warned that the plan would ration medical care for senior adults. A new proposal submitted by Senator Charles Schumer, D-New York, only proves that this has been the goal of liberals, Leftist Democrats, and social engineers from the very start.
A video of an interview with Schumer during which he described the plan can be found in the left column.
Under Schumer's plan, Medicare payments to doctors who treat sick senior adults would be uniform--a flat fee for treating a particular illness rather than reimbursement for treatment that is catered to the specific needs of the individual patient.
This means, for example, that a doctor would receive one flat fee for treating a senior with pneumonia. But if that senior develops complications stemming directly from pneumonia or due to the overall health of the patient in question, Medicare would not pay for further treatment. The doctor will receive one uniform payment for any and all cases of pneumonia, and if an individual patient requires further treatment that costs more than the flat fee, Medicare would force the patient to go without treatment, get worse and die, or beg for the charity of physicians who may be willing to treat them out of the goodness of their hearts.
The bottom line? Schumer's plan is a death sentence for seniors whose illnesses cost much more than Medicare would pay.
Yet Schumer and his Democratic colleagues in the Senate are presently conducting a smear campaign against Republicans, accusing them of trying to take Medicare and Social Security away from seniors. The scare tactic is a common one for the Democrats. They have used this tired and worn out tactic so often during my lifetime that it is surprising anyone falls for it anymore. Yet it is they who are attempting to ration the healthcare of seniors, which will definitely result in the early deaths of countless retirees who will not be provided care if it is deemed that their illness costs too much.
CNS News Service reported the following on Schumer's plan:
The system proposed by Schumer would give health-care providers a financial incentive to withhold care from sick seniors because each and every service or treatment they provided would cut into their profit margin--or cause them to lose money.
Under the current fee-for-service Medicare system, Medicare payments are already so low that many doctors do no take new Medicare patients because it costs them too much to do so, or they transfer the costs of treating Medicare patients to private insurance holders by charging higher rates to them.
Yet Schumer sees greedy doctors as Medicare's root financial problem.
Further, Schumer mischaracterized Republican Paul Ryan's plan to save Medicare as a scheme to destroy it, when in fact the Ryan plan would change nothing for those who are currently 55 and older. Those who are younger than 55 would have time to make plans to adjust to changes in the system that will extend its life by placing it on a more solid financial footing, and by allowing individuals to decide if they want a federal subsidy that would enable them to purchase guaranteed health insurance for their senior years.
Again, according to CNS:
Under the Ryan Medicare reform plan, decisions about what health coverage and services to buy or not buy would be in the hands of the individual American. Under the Schumer Medicare plan, decisions about what health coverage and services seniors would get would be in the hands of Medicare bureaucrats who would decide what flat fee any particular illness was worth and in the hands of health-care providers who be able to increase their income by decreasing care and who could go broke if they provided needed care to a sick patient that cost more than the Medicare bureaucracy's one-size-fits-all flat fee.
Thus, the Democrats wish to save Medicare by insuring that sick seniors will die off due to the lack of care. The Ryan Plan would save Medicare by changing the structure and giving more control to younger Americans concerning how they wish to receive medical care in their retirement years.
And it is, indeed, as simple as that.
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