Why do Republicans want to destroy Social Security and Medicare?
Today’s Republicans want to avoid political accountability by destroying Social Security and Medicare without leaving clear fingerprints. This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.
Why are Republicans refusing to expand Medicaid in some states?
In those that have refused to expand Medicaid, Republicans in power have maintained that their states cannot afford to pursue the measure and their opposition has become more ideological over time.
Will North Carolina Republicans expand health care coverage for Working Families?
On Friday, North Carolina Republican state Sen. Kevin Corbin announced on Facebook that he was working with Sen. Jim Burgin, the chairman of the state's Senate health care committee, "to introduce a bill in the next two weeks that looks at how to expand healthcare coverage for working families in North Carolina."
What would happen to Medicare and Medicaid if Congress reversed Obamacare?
Congress would have to renew the laws it wants to keep. As the New York Times reported: "Taken literally, that would leave the fate of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security to the whims of a Congress that rarely passes anything so expansive."
Why has Wisconsin not expanded Medicaid?
But because Wisconsin cuts off Medicaid eligibility at 100% of the poverty level, they aren't eligible for the enhanced federal match provided by the ACA. Under the Obama and Trump administrations, some states proposed expanding Medicaid to 100% of the poverty level with full federal funding.
What does expanded Medicare mean?
Medicare expansion refers to broadening the benefits of the program, as the parts in which beneficiaries enroll through the government provide limited coverage. Throughout the years, extensions of the program have been uncommon, with one of the most notable instances being coverage of disabled individuals under 65.
Who does not support the Affordable Care Act?
Republican congressmen, governors, and Republican candidates have consistently opposed the ACA and have vowed to repeal it. Polls have consistently shown that it is supported by <50% of Americans.
Why should we expand Medicare?
Medicare remains the most popular and efficient health care program in the U.S. The time has come to improve it and expand it to guarantee health care for millions of older adults, many of whom are struggling with the health and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What are the pros and cons of Medicaid expansion?
List of Medicaid Expansion ProsNot every low-income individual actually qualifies for Medicaid. ... Expansion would support local economies. ... It offers people a level of financial protection. ... Medicaid expansion drops the uninsured rate. ... The cost of expansion is minimal for the states.More items...•
What is Biden's plan for Medicare expansion?
The Medicare expansion in President Joe Biden's $1.75 trillion spending plan included fewer new benefits than some Democrats had hoped for. Medicare benefits would be expanded to include hearing coverage under a framework for a $1.75 trillion spending plan released by President Joe Biden on Thursday.
Why do Americans oppose the ACA?
Many Americans oppose the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) because they do not trust their government, and they oppose a government role in health care. Republicans are less likely to trust their government than Democrats, and are far more likely than Democrats to oppose the ACA.
Why do doctors not like Obamacare?
Dr. Richard Amerling, a New York City physician who is president of the AAPS, said Obamacare has set up a “bad business model” for private physicians. Doctors, he said, can't adjust their rates to keep up with expenses. In addition, electronic record keeping is a burden both in terms of cost and time.
What are the cons of the Affordable Care Act?
Cons:The cost has not decreased for everyone. Those who do not qualify for subsidies may find marketplace health insurance plans unaffordable. ... Loss of company-sponsored health plans. ... Tax penalties. ... Shrinking networks. ... Shopping for coverage can be complicated.
Is Medicare being lowered to 60?
More than 125 House lawmakers introduced legislation Friday that lowers the Medicare eligibility age to 60 from 65. The Improving Medicare Coverage Act — led by Reps.
Is the government expanding Medicare?
The House Ways and Means Committee's portion of the reconciliation package would expand Medicare to include vision, hearing, and dental benefits beginning in 2022, 2023, and 2028, respectively.
What are the proposed changes to Medicare?
The Biden administration's “human infrastructure” proposal would expand Medicare coverage for dental, vision, and hearing aids. It also would attempt to lower the cost for prescription drugs. The proposal also explores the possibility of lowering the eligibility age to under 65.
Who is the Republican who slashed Social Security?
Robert Reich explains the longtime Republican plan to slash Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
What do Paul Ryan and Republicans want to do?
Paul Ryan and Republicans want to give tax breaks to the rich and make the middle class & the poor pay for those tax breaks by increasing their taxes AND cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
How much debt did the Bush administration have?
Under president Bush, Republicans ran up a huge debt of 10 Trillion Dollars. Now, they want to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and middle class, by cutting food stamps, social security, medicare and medicaid while refusing to cut military spending.
How many people would lose health insurance?
Lawrence O’Donnell talks to Ezra Klein about the “catastrophic” CBO report – which estimates 22 million people would lose health care coverage – and GOP Rep. David Jolly shares his personal story of what happened when he found himself unemployed and uninsured. (June 26, 2017)
Which country spends more on military than Russia?
As shown in the above graph, the United States spends more on the military than Russia, China, the UK and 11 more countries COMBINED.
Did the Senate GOP draft a secret health care bill?
Senate GOP drafted a secret, partisan health care bill behind closed doors, refusing any meaningful bipartisan input on the bill and refusing to hold any hearings on this legislation that would impact one sixth of our economy. Senate Democrats today urged the GOP to reverse course on this tactic and release to the public the legislation that would impact the health and bottom lines of millions of Americans. (Jun 13, 2017)
Will Trump cut Medicare?
Despite Trump’s promises NOT to cut Medicare, Medicaid & Social Security, that is exactly what he intends to do IF he is re-elected in 2020.
How much did Medicare cut in 2018?
Congressional Republicans proposed these cuts after passing a budget resolution last year that cut Medicare by $473 billion. The 2018 budget resolution passed by Republicans in December 2017 cut Medicare by $473 billion.
Did the ACA repeal the Medicare?
Congressional Republicans repealed several components of the ACA designed to help keep Medicare’s costs down, effectively driving up costs for the program. By repealing the requirement that most people have insurance, Congressional Republicans knowingly voted for a measure expected to increase the number of uninsured. The 2018 Medicare Trustees Report predicts that this increase will increase the share of subsidies paid to hospitals via Medicare. Similarly, by repealing the Independent Payment Advisory Board, Congressional Republicans took away a mechanism that slowed Medicare cost growth.
Can Medicare negotiate with drug manufacturers?
As the cost of drugs skyrocket, President Trump and his Republican allies in Congress will not allow Medicare to negotiate for better prescription drug prices. Under current law, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is explicitly prohibited from negotiating directly with drug manufacturers on behalf of Medicare Part D enrollees. Although it would decrease both federal spending and beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, a policy allowing the federal government to negotiate drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries was noticeably absent from President Trump’s recent prescription drug announcement.
Why is the GOP terrified of Medicare for all?
Now we know why the GOP is truly terrified of “Medicare for all”: It will wipe out the Republican Party’s control of the House, Senate, White House, and most state governments. Because it could make it very easy for every citizen over 18 to vote.
When did the GOP start a voter suppression campaign?
The GOP stepped up their voter suppression game in 1980 when Heritage Foundation, ALEC, and Moral Majority co-founder and Reagan campaigner Paul Weyrich famously said, “I don’t want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people; they never have been from the beginning of our country, and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections, quite candidly, goes up as the voting populace goes down .”
Why do Republicans control the state legislature?
And, at the state level, in many—perhaps a majority—of the so-called “red states,” Republicans hold control of state legislatures and governors’ offices only because of voter suppression, ranging from voter-roll purges to voter ID laws.
What would happen if the GOP was out of power?
With the GOP out of power at the state level, Democrats (and the few remaining ethical Republicans) could replace gerrymandering with good-government solutions like the non-partisan district-drawing commission put into place by California.
What did the white conservatives do to prevent poor people from voting?
Here in the U.S., ever since Jim Crow, racist white “conservatives” have used a variety of means to prevent poor people, people of color, low-income working people, students, and older people from voting. Techniques have varied over the years, starting with poll taxes and so-called “literacy tests,” and now are carefully calibrated by cutting voting sites, reducing early voting, and even disenfranchising North Dakota’s Native American population.
Does Canada have Medicare?
But it’s a virtual certainty that the deep-dive think tanks and “wise elders” of the GOP also know how easy it is to vote in Canada and other developed countries, in very large part because of the national ID card that Canada’s (and most of Europe’s) Medicare for all programs provide at great ease and no cost.
Does the GOP need voter registration?
But with a national ID system in place that’s universally used because it’s the key to getting your health care and medications, there’s no need for “voter registration” and thus no ability for the GOP to purge voters. Voter registration, after all, is a practice we largely got after the Civil War because Southern white politicians warned of “voter fraud” being committed by recently freed black people, and some Northern states used it to prevent poor whites from voting.
Why do Republicans hate Medicare?
Because Social Security and Medicare are government programs that work so well, the Republican elite — with its seemingly religious belief that the private sector is always the best — hates them . So obsessed are the Republicans in their desire to eliminate these effective government programs that the very first action that House Republicans took in the new Congress was to adopt a rules package that included a new rule that amounts to a stealth attack on Social Security and Medicare.
What are the Republicans' obsessions with Medicare?
The Republican Obsession With Dismantling Social Security And Medicare. Today’s Republicans want to avoid political accountability by destroying Social Security and Medicare without leaving clear fingerprints. The Republicans are desperate to destroy Social Security and Medicare. These two programs demonstrate government at its best.
What is the Republican claim that they are simply seeking to save Social Security and Medicare?
Republican claims that they are simply seeking to save Social Security and Medicare is the same Orwellian language used during the Vietnam War, when a military officer claimed that a village had to be destroyed in order to save it. Similarly, when today’s Republicans talk of “saving” Social Security and Medicare, ...
Why don't Social Security and Medicare go through the appropriations process?
Social Security — the people’s pension — and Medicare — the first step toward universal health insurance for all — do not go through the appropriations process because, as monthly pension payments and medical insurance, they must pay what is owed, not what Congress chooses to spend. If Social Security and Medicare were subject to the whims of every Congress, they would be radically transformed. No one could count on the benefits they had earned. Presumably with that goal in mind, the new rules require the relevant committees to make “recommendations for changes to existing law for moving [unspecified} programs…from mandatory funding to discretionary appropriations, where appropriate.”
Why does Medicare not go through the appropriations process?
Social Security — the people’s pension — and Medicare — the first step toward universal health insurance for all — do not go through the appropriations process because, as monthly pension payments and medical insurance, they must pay what is owed, not what Congress chooses to spend. If Social Security and Medicare were subject to the whims ...
What are the two programs that Republicans want to destroy?
The Republicans are desperate to destroy Social Security and Medicare. These two programs demonstrate government at its best. The federal government runs these two extremely popular programs more efficiently, universally, securely, and effectively than the private sector does with its alternatives — or indeed could, ...
What would happen if the Democratic Party could draw a clear distinction on this vital issue?
If the Democratic Party can draw a clear distinction on this vital issue, it can create a powerful wedge between the Republican elites and their base. If the base catches on and realizes who truly represents their economic interests, the next four years, difficult as they are going to be, will be followed by important progress for many years to come.
What do conservative Republicans dislike about Medicaid?
What conservative Republicans like Ryan dislike about Medicaid isn’t just that it’s fiscally progressive. They also dislike that it’s working. As medical costs have risen and the private sector has failed to cover an increasing number of Americans, the Medicaid and CHIP programs have filled some of the coverage gap, and have done so relatively cheaply. (Studies show that covering people with private insurance plans costs somewhere between a quarter and a third more than Medicaid .)
Why is the Republican Party so hostile to Medicaid?
Why is the Republican Party so hostile toward Medicaid? It can’t simply be reflecting the wishes, and interests, of its voters, many of whom are now beneficiaries of the program. Donald Trump appeared to understand this when, from the beginning of his campaign, he promised not to cut Medicaid. (Of course, this pledge turned out to be worth about as much as a marketing flyer for Trump University.)
How much will Medicaid be reduced in 2026?
The C.B.O. estimates that by 2026, if the A.H.C.A. were enacted, spending on Medicaid would be reduced by a quarter compared to current spending. In the same time period, the number of people covered by Medicaid and CHIP would fall by about fourteen million—accounting for almost two-thirds of the total decrease of twenty-three million predicted by the C.B.O.
Why did Obamacare expand?
That’s largely because the Affordable Care Act of 2010 significantly increased the programs’ income-eligibility thresholds. The expansion under Obamacare focussed on working families with incomes just above the official poverty line. But many Medicaid beneficiaries are elderly and infirm individuals living in nursing homes.
How many people are on medicaid in 2013?
That’s more than one in five of the U.S. population. Since 2013, the number of Medicaid and CHIP enrollees has risen by almost twenty million.
Is Medicaid a federal program?
Many people who don’t use Medicaid think of it as a federal health-care program for the impoverished and destitute, but it’s much more than that. In the past couple of decades, as incomes have stagnated and health-care costs have accelerated, Medicaid has turned into an essential support mechanism for millions of Americans who can’t be classed as ...
Does Medicaid cover kids?
Kids are also big beneficiaries: Medicaid and CHIP now help to provide medical coverage for about a third of all the children in America. Some of the families who benefit from Medicaid might not even realize they are receiving federal aid. Take New York State’s Child Health Plus program, which provides medical insurance for the children ...
Who opposes Obamacare expansion?
President Trump and almost all Congressional Republicans have consistently opposed Obamacare's expansion of Medicaid. Their opposition is irrational. It is also unpopular with voters.
How much did Medicaid expansion cost?
The CBO has estimated that the Medicaid expansion cost $4,916 per enrollee in 2018––for a program with no consumer deductibles and co-pays. At the same time the CBO estimated that the average per-enrollee cost for the Obamacare insurance market subsidies was $6,300––and remember the Obamacare market plans have big deductibles and the government doesn't subsidize the entire cost.
Why are there fewer providers in Medicaid than commercial insurance?
And, while there are fewer providers participating in Medicaid than commercial insurance because of the lower reimbursement rates, rates of access to care and satisfaction with care among Medicaid enrollees are comparable to rates for people with private insurance.
How many Medicaid beneficiaries were there in 2018?
In 2018, insurers had more than 49 million Medicaid beneficiaries in their programs–– two-thirds of the enrollment.
When did the Medicare Part D deficit start?
But blowing up the deficit over health care didn't bother Congressional Republicans in 2003 when they created the Medicare Part D drug benefit and didn't pay for it adding $700 billion to the deficit over the following ten years ( Part D added $140 billion to the deficit alone in 2018). But that unpaid-for entitlement expansion helped a big Republican constituency––seniors.
Can we afford a massive expansion of the welfare state?
We can't afford such a massive expansion of the welfare state and the impact that would have on deficit spending.
Did the House repeal the Medicaid expansion?
In 2017, House Republicans would have repealed the Medicaid expansion and the individual market subsidies and would have repackaged them into a program that took some, but not all, of that money and sent it to the states. Each state legislature would have been expected to take that money and craft a health insurance reform plan of their own making––fifty different states doing what the Congress has been unable to find a way to do.
Who is opposed to health care expansion?
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' office said he was opposed, declining health care coverage for approximately 800,000 people. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster's spokesperson told the Washington Times that the governor "is not for sale" and would not support expansion for about 300,000 residents. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has also signaled her continued opposition, which would leave about 50,000 people in the state without coverage.
What percentage of Texas residents approve of Medicaid expansion?
IMAGE: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott at a news conference in Austin. (Eric Gay / AP file) In Texas, 69 percent approve of Medicaid expansion, according to a poll conducted late last year by the Texas-based Episcopal Health Foundation.
Is Corbin's bill considered Medicaid expansion?
Corbin did not respond to a request for comment, but North Carolina Senate Republican leadership said his bill is unrelated to the federal Medicaid expansion incentives and could not be considered traditional Medicaid expansion.
Did Abbott say expansion is coming?
Abbott has not made a clear statement about expansion since the passage of President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which some say is telling, but he has been a harsh critic in the past.
Is Texas going to expand Medicaid?
While Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, both conservative Republicans, are unlikely to support any Medicaid expansion bill — which would likely kill the measure — some expect it to set up a political battle within the state Republican party and balloon into a major issue in the 2022 race for the governorship.
Who is the Wyoming senator who helped write the stimulus bill?
“It’s the stimulus funds that are really the motivation,” said Sen. Chris Rothfuss, the Wyoming Senate minority leader who helped write the bill moving its way through the Legislature. “I think it has really changed some hearts and minds in the Legislature.”
Is Wyoming expanding Medicaid?
Expanding Medicaid is an option available to states since 2014 through the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, yet Wyoming and 11 other states have refused to take up the federal government’s offer. About 2.2 million people, who earn too much for Medicaid and too little for Obamacare subsidies, fall in that coverage gap nationwide, ...