Are lies. Or maybe he actually started to tell the truth, but then thought better of it. In his acceptance speech the 0ne said, “And I will — I will never turn Medicare into a voucher.” Notice the start of the sentence, it’s important:
“In his convention speech in Charlotte, President Obama vowed to block the Republican Medicare reform plan because “no American should ever have to spend their golden years at the mercy of insurance companies.”
But back in Washington, his Health and Human Services Department is launching a pilot program that would shift up to 2 million of the poorest and most-vulnerable seniors out of the federal Medicare program and into private health insurance plans overseen by the states.
The administration has accepted applications from 18 states to participate in the program, which would give states money to purchase managed-care plans for people who are either disabled or poor enough to qualify for both Medicare and Medicaid. HHS approved the first state plan, one for Massachusetts, last month.”
Bear in mind that Ryan’s plan made the vouchers optional; seniors could choose the traditional government-run Medicare plan or opt for a private insurance plan from a federal exchange of approved insurers. Ryan also allows all seniors to choose, and didn’t force the poorest seniors to take the voucher option. Not only will Obama push just the poorest seniors into this plan, in some states they’d have to know to opt back in to traditional Medicare:
One day. His fable held up for one day. And he’s forcing the poorest and most vulnerable to be the guinea pigs for his experiment.
As Ed notes, this may actually be a good plan in the long run, but the execution of this stinks. It’s also another highly questionable executive action.
