Senior Citizens and ObamaCare

Admittedly, as a senior citizen, I have a vested interest in what is going to happen to my medical care under ObamaCare. Yesterday the Heritage Foundation posted an article explaining some of the consequences of ObamaCare.

The article reports:

Medicare’s Part A trust fund is projected to be insolvent by 2026 and the total program has a long-term unfunded obligation of more than $35 trillion.

…ObamaCare has already made significant changes to Medicare, namely through provider reimbursement reductions and the creation of an unelected board of bureaucrats, the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB).

The reductions in reimbursement will result in hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities that provide Medicare services not being able to supply those services. As these facilities decrease, the availability of care for Medicare patients will decrease.

The article further reports:

As CBO plainly states, “CBO has been asked whether the reductions in projected Part A outlays and increases in projected [hospital insurance] revenues under the legislation can provide additional resources to pay future Medicare benefits while simultaneously providing resources to pay for new programs outside of Medicare. Our answer is basically no.”

The Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) will also have a negative impact on the care that senior citizens receive.

The article reports:

The board will consist of 15 unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats, charged with meeting a newly created budget target in Medicare. When Medicare spending surpasses the target, IPAB will have to make recommendations to lower Medicare spending. The trustees project the much-hated IPAB will need to step up and make recommendations for the first time in 2016.

Heathcare decisions will no longer be between patient and doctor–they will be between patient and government. Decisions will be made according to cost rather than what is needed. Eventually this will result in an older generation that has medical care inferior to the care their parents had–in spite of advances in medicine. Because senior citizens often have higher medical expenses, those expenses would be targeted for cuts.

One of the formulators of ObamaCare was Ezekiel Emanuel, brother of Rham Emanuel. In an article posted in July 2009 and modified in March 2012, the Washington Examiner reported:

Emanuel has written in medical journals of how health care should be rationed, with priority given to younger people over seniors and over those suffering from dementia, according to John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA). Ezekiel also believes that very young children should be lower on the priority list than younger people who have received public educations.

America currently has one of the best healthcare systems in the world. ObamaCare will change that. ObamaCare needs to be drastically changed or repealed as soon as possible. The lives of Americans depend on it.

 

 

 

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