Three Ways to Save Medicare
Here are three ways to save Medicare, none of which are being considered by Paul Ryan and his corporate bosses.
1. Allow Medicare to use its bulk purchasing power to negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies for lower prices. This wouldn’t cost a dime; and wouldn’t add a single faceless government bureaucrat to the process. This is strictly prohibited under G.W. Bush’s multi-billion-dollar giveaway to the drug industry. Eliminating this rule would save $156 billion.
2. Allow prescription drugs to be imported from Canada (among other countries). Again — strictly prohibited. Where are all those “Limited Government!” shouters when we need them? Eliminating this rule would save $80 billion.
3. Allow Medicare recipients to use their insurance outside of the United States. This would be a win-win for Medicare recipients, our overburdened doctors and hospitals, and taxpayers who would save $40 billion a year. Can’t blame Bush for this one: Obama recently dismissed this exact idea at a town hall meeting.
Unfortunately the Medical-Industrial Complex will never permit their well-paid prostitutes — i.e. Congress — to make any of these changes.
Labels: medical industrial complex, Medicare pharmaceutical companies, Paul Ryan, three ways to save Medicare
posted by Tom Harper @ 12:32 AM
7 Comments:
Great ideas!
Yes indeed. Those three things alone would appear to save more than a quarter of a trillion dollars.
I am afraid you are right, Tom. Profits are more important than life to the "Medical-Industrial Complex".
After all, life is just an expense to them.
Great Starts -
My Understanding is the Canadians and others get Cheaper Drugs because they bargain for them and (according to the drug companies) WE make up the difference in profit.
The whole Bush plan overloaded the Budget by bringing in the HMO's to do what the Government (there's that Nasty word) was doing for less. Under that plan we make up what the HMO's are losing. Eliminate the HMO's and just go back to the evil government and you could save even more billions, Like we have done for the last 40 years.
Too Scary?
Erik
EXACTLY!
This is what happens when certain industries that should be in the public trust are allowed to:
1. become an "industry"
2. left to the free market.
Ooooh! No more moderation?
J: Yup, too bad they'll never see the light of day.
Snave: I guess they'd rather save money by deleting the safety net.
Jerry: From their standpoint, people are just raw materials to be utilized for maximum profit.
Erik: I'm afraid that's much too scary for the people who are running things.
Bee: Good summary; that's the crux of it. I thought I'd give it a whirl without moderation, let the chips fall where they may, etc.
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