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Question of the Week: Which proposals aimed at strengthening Medicare do you support?

Posted by | August 30, 2012

Medicare was established in 1965 as a federal insurance program to provide access to health care for Americans, age 65 and older, and was later expanded to cover disabled individuals under the age of 65. In 2011, Medicare covered nearly 50 million Americans.

According to an annual report published by the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees, Medicare’s hospital insurance (HI) trust fund, which covers Part A benefits such as inpatient hospital services and home health care, will be depleted by 2024. Additionally, the report estimates that Medicare spending will grow from $549.1 billion in 2011 to $1 trillion in 2021.

There is bi-partisan consensus that Medicare is on an unsustainable course and reform is needed, but significant debate remains about which proposals should be implemented.

Question of the week: Which proposals aimed at strengthening Medicare do you support? (multi-answer)

( ) No changes - continue providing health insurance the way Medicare does now
( ) Allow seniors to choose a plan, including the traditional plan, in which the government gives older Americans money to buy health insurance. In this system, private insurers would compete for seniors’ business on price and services.
( ) Regulate Medicare costs by an Independent Payment Advisory Board, responsible for controlling program costs whenever Medicare is projected to exceed preset budgets.
( ) Raise the eligibility age of Medicare from 65 to 67
( ) Increase beneficiary costs from 25 to 35%
( ) Gradually limit benefits for high-income enrollees
( ) Other (share your thoughts on my blog here.)

Take the poll here.

Find out the results of last week’s instapoll here.

Comments

Users are solely responsible for the opinions they post here and their comments do not necessarily reflect the views of Congressman Forbes.

Barbara Lee commented on 8/30/2012

Consider a small increase in the % of payroll tax for medicare and social security and remove ability of federal government to tap into Medicare or Social Security funds for other expenses (fund can ONLY be used for Medicare/social Security payments)
Cathy Lockwood commented on 8/30/2012

I would not be opposed to raising the age from 65 to 67 since I myself will most likely be working until I am at least 67-68, unfortunately. The only issue would be, if the Medicare is expected to be depleted by 2024 then I most likely will never be eligible at 65 or 67!
Amy Huntington commented on 8/30/2012

Other: Legalize all present immigrants under the age of 50, thus increasing taxable citizens to pay into social security. Tax all income (not just wage earned) at 35%. BOOM, medicare security. Do NOT open it up to private market, whose natural goal is to take in more money than they pay out.
a b commented on 8/30/2012

Millions of people need medicare benefits now...let 2024 take care of itself. I say LOWER the age to 62 across the board.
Eric Rakes commented on 8/30/2012

Allowing plans to compete would be a great idea, but it needs to be fleshed out somewhat. The biggest concern that I would have about having private companies manage benefits for seniors is that an increasing number of seniors will not have the cognitive capacity to make an informed decision on individual plans. As someone with personal experience helping individuals choose medicare part D plans and having experienced the difficulty involved in explaining those benefits, I can only imagine what the costs would be to simply advise that population on which benefits to choose and ensure seniors with cognitive disabilities remain covered. Being a senior care pharmacist and board certified in geriatric pharmacy, I find many cases where this population hasn't the farthest clue what is covered and how much they are going to end up paying. If all of these plans were managed care organizations being coordinated by an advocacy group, the idea may work, but at what cost? How do we ensure there is informed consent?
Bernice Hall commented on 8/30/2012

If our United States of America is going to continue to allow immigrants to be here, they should be forced to participate from the day they take their oath, get a green card or are caught being paid under the table by greedy people that want cheap labor. Our Congressmen, Senators, Judges, Vice Presidents, Presidents and any other polictican or goverment high roller should be contributing to the Medicare Fund and this should be retro'd to at least 5 years back. Far as I know, anyone who puts on pants, puts them on the same way. Some just pay more for those pants and should contribute accordingl.
Edward Norman commented on 8/30/2012

I support Options 2 and 5
Brandon Holland commented on 8/30/2012

I noticed raising the medicaire tax was not listed as a choice. I would think most Americans would support doing this before raising the age from 65 to 67 or some of the other choices. Just saying if the findings of the poll are to be somewhat useful that raising the tax needs to be a choice in the poll.
Delbert L. Curtis commented on 8/30/2012

I believe we need eventually eliminate the medicare and social security programs completely. Get the government and employers out of the picture and let the people provide for their own current health insurance and retirement. If people have to pay their own premiums and have a full realization of the costs they will provide controls over the activity that will eliminate most of the waste, fraud and abuses. I recall paying my medical bills and then submitting a claim (I submitted the claim with a doctor's or hospital's bills) and being reimbursed. It was my responsibility to check the bill for accuracy of the services charged and if they had been provided. It was my responsibility to pay for the services. A couple of times it was necessary to make arrangements with the doctor or hospital for extended payments and that was never denied. We need to get back to accepting our responsibilities and shrink the government back within the confines of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution of the United States. Phased in over time until we have restored our full freedoms as "... endowed by their Creator...". That's where we need to be headed.
Jack Edwards commented on 8/30/2012

Mr. Forbes, I dont have much knowledge on medicare but I think Ive been told by some that monies allocated for medicare and SS are used in other places. If this is true, then to me this would be the perfect starting point.
Gerry Stephenson commented on 8/30/2012

In May I broke my left arm. After it healed, I started physical therapy to regain the range if its mobility. I go to physical therapy twice a week at a center run by a local regional hospital. The cost of a therapy session exceeds what I believe the session is worth. Each time I have gone to therapy, there are a lot of other seniors there too, some have been going for therapy for years to regain strength in the legs. In Virginia, we have Community Service Boards that operate senior centers. Could the CSBs provide physical therapy and exercise facilities for seniors at a lower cost than a hospital?? For a start, it might be worthwhile to determine the Medicare costs for physical therapy.
Duane Hass commented on 8/30/2012

There are a lot of things which can be done to strengthen Medicare. You can increase the age. You can increase the payroll tax. You can eliminate the cap on the payroll which is subject the tax or make it for 90% of the payroll. I would not like to see the benefits reduced.
Kenneth Shively commented on 8/30/2012

Similar comment as Bernice on 8/30/12: If our United States of America is going to continue to allow immigrants to be here, they should be forced to participate from the day they take their oath, get a green card or are caught being paid under the table by greedy people that want cheap labor. Our Congressmen, Senators, Judges, Vice Presidents, Presidents and any other polictican or goverment high roller should be contributing to the Medicare Fund and this should be retro'd to when they first started getting insurance benefits for very little or nothing or at least pay the difference between what they have been paying and what they would have otherwise paid except for their position which the people voted them into.
Stan Bialik commented on 8/30/2012

I don't know the best way to reform Medicare or Medicaid, but here's an idea for Social Security: Have open immigration from all countries except terrorist-spawning ones, with the condition that all immigrants have to pay in to Social Security at the 13.5% rate, but cannot recieve retirement benefits until they are alt least 80 years old.
Elwyn Jordan commented on 8/30/2012

Insurance competition on price makes sense, but not on services. Who knows what services one will need next year. Medical insurance should cover any medical need. I believe we need some form of universal health care as found throughout the world. Elwyn
Ed Eaton commented on 8/30/2012

There are clearly some hurdles to address. First one I would consider is the impact of the existing system and any proposed changes on encouraging people to become doctors, nurses and various other levels and types of medical practitioners. The second consideration is that the existing practice of effectively shutting down normal medical insurance for participants at 65 and shifting that whole population to medicare is troublesome given the demographic changes that are occurring over the next 25 years. We simply will not have the money to provide increasingly complex and expensive solutions to medical ailments. You cannot make available the most expensive and advanced treatments for the entire elderly population at planned government rates - it's impossible without significant coercion! Or, to put it another way, you cannot make what is scarce plentiful by the waving of the government wand. There have to be changes made to the program and in expectations. The government has known this was coming and has neither spoken plainly nor defined likely workable solutions. Someone is going to have to break the news to the population that Washington is not OZ - we made errors and now you are going to have to pay for them. This is the political nightmare of our day. We are waiting on some leaders with courage and clarity.
BILL CHANDLEY commented on 8/30/2012

Bear down on cleaning up the waste, fraud and abuse of Medicare (and all gov't run programs)! Get the illegals off the rolls, and do a better job of claims validation... and I'm betting the present system will continue to be adequate for a lot longer than is currently projected!
Andrew Van Der Plaats commented on 8/30/2012

Establish a National Health Care program, similar to those currently being used in Switzerland and Germany. Establish fixed rates for services and let insurance firms compete to see who can offer the best service. Firms are re-embursed based on number of clients they cover. shame
Otto Wachsmann commented on 8/30/2012

If our government privatizes Medicare and allows the insuance companies to have control, those that provide the direct care/service to our seniors (the providers) will be so grossly underpaid that their ability to provide appropriate care will become compromised while the insurance companies will take an even larger portion of the healthcare dollar. Once that transition occurs, it can not be undone and no amount of unfairness or lobbying of Congress will be able to do anything about it.
Robin Sherry commented on 8/30/2012

I am still all for government receiving the same Social Security and health benefits that "We the People are receiving. Now for the welfare system. The welfare system was never meant to be a forever paycheck. Granted there are those who are deserving of aid, but I know that it is a failed system that has become dependent of the government. Many are able to work, but why??? when it can be handed over to them. I had seen many abuses of those on welfare concerning the care of their children. I used to see a mother bring her kids into the Emergency room for colds and sore throats. There were many other abuses as well. Why not? it does not come out of their pocket. I feel that Medicare needs to be left alone. It was invested into by the working generations. America should be a country that takes care of the elderly instead of kicking them to the curb.
John Gates commented on 8/30/2012

Billy Harrell hit it right on the Head! Also regulate the costs of drugs and pass laws to make research costs to develop drugs a cost of doing business like other industries. Have the Government repay the Social Security Fund the money that 4 administrations took from the Fund 5 times (Reagan once, H. W. Bush once, Clinton once, and Bush Jr. twice). Then remove the Social Security Fund from the General Fund to keep it safe. That should fund the Social Security Fund again for quite some time! Lastly, take away the Government Health Care Fund, make all Government employees including the Senate and House use the Health Insurances that everyone else has to use, remove the laws giving the Senate and House automatic raises, and pass a law that removes all Senators and Representatives from the Government Retirement System; making them use 401K's and IRA's like the rest of the people. Take away the vehicles and fuel costs that we tax payers pay for that our elected officials use and make them use their own vehicles and pay for fuel like the rest of us. Then Washington will take action on these issues because then they'll be in the same boat as the rest of the people and then they will actually have the People's interests at heart because it effects them too! Use the tax dollars spent for their vacations, travel, vehicles, gas, and clothes to put into a fund that actually does something for the people. With the lowest new Congressman making $174,000.00; they can afford to pay for the things everyone else has to pay for!
clarence logan commented on 8/30/2012

certainly attack the fraud problem. raise the cap for f.i.c.a. . return the middle class to reasonable paying jobs by repealing all "free" trade agreements and initiating an import tax or tariff on all manufactured goods. this would be a great help in bringing the jobs back. far more jobs than the agreements have created.
Gregg J commented on 8/30/2012

I support option 1. Unsure how to make this happen, let me explain. Lift the payroll tax cap, currently $110K. Lifting the tax cap will fully fund both programs no problem. It’s unclear why this simple solution was not presented in the instapoll. There is one problem; Americans need someone of courage and principle to support this. Who will it be?
Lee Byrd commented on 8/30/2012

Increase Medcaire payroll tax % and increase tax cap with index for inflation
Judith Robertson commented on 8/30/2012

I do not believe the age limit should be increased to 70 to be eligible for medicare. I've worked since I was 15 years old and now that I am 65 I have to keep working to pay for the supplemental & drug coverage. Please repeal obamacare! Eliminate waste and fraud and get the other 51% of American to pay taxes to help support the free stuff they are given so they don't have to work. People do not work because they get anything they want from obama. Housing, food stamps, utility allowance and their medical is covered. So they say why do I need to work.
Gary Ansell commented on 8/30/2012

No not really the us owes the IOU they have borrowed from us sence 1966 and with intrest B believe it is over 1.3 trillion dollars now So the govt needs to pay us back Thanks Gary
James Rakes commented on 8/30/2012

Remove the ability for government to access any funds whatsoever for any other purpose than medicare. Make eligibility for citizens only and not for anyone over the age of 21 who is a dependent of the medicare recipient. Oversee the program more diligently for fraud and waste.
O.J. Mallory commented on 8/30/2012

The government doesn't give seniors who paid into SS anything!. IT'S OUR MONEY. It is NOT an "entitlement"! It is a contract and our government has violated the trust of the citizens. Kindly stop indicating that it is anything else.
Thomas G commented on 8/30/2012

Randy, what are you doing here? Why are you asking a question like this and what exactly do you intend to propose to the American people. I think a more important question for your constituents is for you to tell us what you intend to propose and what your position actually is. What we need you to do is to pressure your leadership to vote on a comprehensive jobs bill, that was fully paid for and sent to you a year ago sir. This congress's performance has been embarrassingly dysfunctional sir. So many of your poll questions have been critized over the past two years for being slanted and engineered in ways that clearly deceive the voters. Many constituents have complained publically on this blog about this practice and here we are again. First, I do NOT want you to try and restore higher payments for insurance companies. Those cost containment provisions are now the law of the land and they did NOT result in any benefit reduction for seniors, and I would ask you to please advise others in your party to stop misleading the American people. I do not support changing the entitlement date to 67 but I do support means testing and I see little need for gradual implementation of this. My first preference would be a single payer system with everyone on Medicare and elimination of Medicaid. This is the most effective way to provide insurance to all and control costs. I hope I can count on your support for action like this. I see no reason to delay action on this national priority. I am willing to consider increased taxes but only if you will acknowledge the disaster of the Bush tax cuts and act to immediately increase the tax rates on individuals and business to those making over 250,000.00 I hope that you will rescind your commitment to the Grover Norquist blackmail pledge that has rendered you unable to act with sound judgment on economic matters vital to this country. You have harmed this nation sir with the inability to change when the facts change. Your refusal to rescind this pledge essentially means that your poll question is nothing more than a politically divisive attempt to accomplish nothing.
Stephen Correia commented on 8/30/2012

I believe the government needs to honor their promise and commit to providing Medicare for people who are 50 or over (this includes congressmen, senators, presidents, and cabinet members). For those under 50, they should have the choice to opt out of Medicare, and no longer have Medicare taken out of their paycheck. Medicare should be shutdown in the next 30 or so years. Social Health care is not the business of the government.
J Ballard commented on 8/30/2012

Do the stats you present assume repayment of the funds "borrowed" from Medicare Trust Fund by the Government to pay other expenses? Is the budget burden to continue to pay benefits from the fund's reserves or to continue to pay benefits from the fund's reserves and the repayment of the debt owed the reserves because the reserve money has been spent elsewhere in the federal budget? Medicare revenues need to meet Medicare expenses and how that balance is reached should be through a combination of regulation, an increase in the Medicare payroll tax rate and premium increases for those currently receiving benefits.
Debbie Erz commented on 8/31/2012

First, put back the money Obama took out to pay for Obamacare. Second, allow SSDI recipients to defer Medicare coverage without penalty while they continue to be covered by an employer sponssored plan.
Richard Insley commented on 8/31/2012

"Fixing Medicare" will be painful because politicians have kicked this can down the road for so long that this problem, and Social Security solvency, have become enormous. Now is the time for a permanent solution--beginning with a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution and tort reform. Squeezing the cost of Medicare and SS into a balanced budget will require cuts, but care must be taken not to cripple the health care system by forcing providers to accept pennies on the dollar. Spending can be reduced by inching the eligibility age forward, refusing benefits to those who have paid little or nothing into the system, hunting and punishing those who defraud the system, controlling waste, encouraging private sector alternatives, and anything else that will contain costs. Meaningful tort reform can slash the costs of health care services and encourage providers to stay in business. If we do not control lawsuits and keep bureaucrats off the backs of our doctors and other providers, they will abandon health care in favorable of other occupations.
Thomas G commented on 8/31/2012

Well congressman Forbes I must admit I'm very hesitant to engage you in matters of health care given that you cosponsored HR 3 that attempted to redefine rape. You cannot imagine my shock when I looked into that to discover, oh my God, my congressman thinks like that too??? It is also hard to engage you in matters of health care when you voted to recently voted to further increase the deficit by more than 100 billion dollars by eliminating many health care benefits vital to women and to seniors in this country so you can funnel millions more into the hands of insurance companies. I know that's tough to hear congressman, so why do you do these things? It's very hard sir to try and give you guidance that you consistently do not follow. You even voted to shove this great nation into default sir, against the overwhelming guidance of your constituents, past and present Treasury secretaries, chairmen of the Federal Reserve, the International Monetary Fund, Nobel prize winning economists, prominent scholars across the country, the CEO's of many of the nations largest and most important corporations too. Again, I know that's tough to hear sir, so, why did you do it? It is hard sir when you refuse to end subsidies for the oil and gas industry CEO's testifying to congress they did not want. It is hard when you force the military to spend millions of dollars on obsolete equipment they do not want. It is hard sir to trust you to pursue sensible reform when you refuse to support tax cuts for the middle class and support proposals for even MORE tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires. It is hard to trust you sir when you signed the Grover Norquist blackmail pledge and cannot act to address the nation's problems when the facts so dramatically change. I'm not sure what to tell you sir, feeling you are so disconnected from mainstreet and your constituency you cannot grasp the needs of the nation. With approval of your congress at historic lows the best guidance I can give you is to resign. I do not want this congress to act in any way on the issue of Medicare. I do not trust this issue in the hands of the present leadership.
Jeff Siffert commented on 8/31/2012

The benefits for Medicare should be simular to those of Social Security, based on the participation of the individual into the system. Not based on a $ amount like SS, but based on time or years paying into the system. If you participated in the system for atleast 20 years before you became age eligible then you are fully vested in the system. If your number is 15 years then you are 75% vested and receive limited benifits, or something like that. This would reduce and/or eliminate that upper aged immigrants that come here and take advantage of our systems. I also agree with Vicki, individuals and families that have the means to pay without assistance should not get assistance from the Govt. You pick a number, if and individual or couple have/has assets over 2.5MM then they do not receive the benefits, because they don't need them. Medicare was intended to assist those later in life that do not have the means to pay, not just because you hit a certain age.
Darrell Edwards commented on 8/31/2012

The only things that need to be changed is: that money is for medicare only and not to be touched by the government for anything else, no illegals should be allowed to use any of this and all AMERICANS including CONGRESS should be paying into this.
Dixie Dickinson commented on 8/31/2012

Apply a means test that would kick in after a set number of years. Those who can pay more, should pay more.
Tracy Mullins commented on 8/31/2012

You can;'t fix Medicare until you get fix healthcare they go hand in hand. The abuse on Medicare from medical facilities and alike is draining Medicare and the people. If Insurance and medical industry is not addressed Both are doomed to fail.
Walter White commented on 8/31/2012

I have paid into Medicare and SS most of my life. I started when I was 12 working in a family store. So when they call it an Entitlement I see RED. Take all the people that did not pay into it off. !!!!!!!
chuck rodgers commented on 9/2/2012

I believe that if, Social Security and Medicare, and the CONSTITUTION, were applied equally, across the board to every UNITED STATES citizen, (exempting no-one) there would not be a problem with MEDICARE or SOCIAL SECURITY, and all the constitutional problems would evaporate.
Henry Cunningham commented on 9/2/2012

1. Have all representatives now in Congress renew their oath to serve the people and uphold the constitution. Any and all "pledges" which will or might interfere with this oath must be considered abrogated as violations of and incompatible with the oath to the people. 2. Health care must stop being considered as a cash cow for insurance companies. Medicare deductions were made from our paychecks because of Government laws and were put into a government "Trust Fund". In return, government has obligated the people of the United States to provide for the medical care of the aged and disabled, knowing full well that private insurors,with their "obligation" to make money for their stockholders have an automatic conflict of interest which precludes privately owned firms from getting the best care for the citizens who were required to entrust their money to their government with the promise of that government to get them the best medical care when they were aged. 3.Our elderly and our disbled must not be burdened with the incredible task of choosing among dozens of competing plans, all submitted with profits as the real goal, without the necessary financial and medical knowledge or understanding, often lacking the ability to truly compare alternative plans consisting of many pages of technical items. Instead, a governmental health committee or commission should have that function, including comparison of any nominally acceptatble private plans with the health provisions, and the cost of, the national plans of countries whose per capita health costs is less than ours while their benefits, as shown by life expectancy and other indicators, are better than ours. if such plan or plans havea single payer, let us go to such a plan. 4. Study the methods used to fight fraud and waste by countries with better health results and costs than we have . No need to reinvent the wheel....study the best and emulate the best features from the plans used in the countries, I think over 50, with better health results and lower costs per capita than the US has.e
Scott Decker commented on 9/4/2012

As one who works to support healthcare providers, the number one problem with Medicare is the overhead and fraud with no true mechanism I place to administer payments and cost properly. It is not what is being charged for procedures but the overhead and fraud that are out of control.
A Jackson commented on 9/8/2012

I stand with all of those who do not agree with the congressman due to his pledge to Grover Norquist to never raise taxes under any circumstance. That pledge apparently outweighs his oath of office in importance. His joining with other Tea Partiers in redefining rape is a disgrace as well but no surprise to me. I am for a single payer health care system, but as the chances of that happening in the United States are slim and none, I will be happy with joining Scott Decker in calling for a reduction of the overhead and fraud in the system. Our president recognizes this and is taking steps to deal with the situation but gets no credit from the Republicans, including the congressman.

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