Less for Medicare

For months, Obama surrogates have denied that the “Affordable Care Act” cut $716 billion from Medicare. Finally on August 25th, Obama was forced to admit that indeed money was cut, which he called “reforms that will save Medicare money by getting rid of wasteful spending”. After the first Presidential debate, the “Truth Squad” at NBCNews.com claimed that

          “those trims come from limiting payments to health-care providers and insurers---NOT limiting care to seniors.”

OK, let’s say there was a Federal food benefit for a certain segment of the population.

Say the government would reimburse grocers 40 percent of the cost of the food this group took. Years later, the government announces a plan to extend the solvency of this giveaway by ten years by only reimbursing the grocers 25 percent of the cost.

Few if any “food providers” would accept these customers, just as medical providers are dropping Medicare patients or not accepting new ones.

But don’t think that will lead to a doctor shortage for seniors. Just as the Obama administration has used the tax code to force American citizens to purchase health insurance, they will surely penalize doctors who refuse to lose money on Medicare patients.