What Next, Debtor Prisons?

Elderly patient popping pills

Just to recap, the much talked about Ryan Plan submitted by Representative Paul Ryan, Republican of Wisconsin eventually replaces Medicare with a voucher system. According to the plan, seniors would not receive assistance on the basis of medical need. They would get a flat 15 grand with which they can go buy a policy for the rest of their life. He may as well just give them a gold watch. The fact that escapes Ryan is that adequate insurance for the elderly is practically non-existent. That is why we have Medicare. The only way his plan could possibly work is if insurance companies were forced to provide comprehensive care for seniors for the rest of their lives for that amount, but that disturbs the Republican pecking order. Government can't tell a profit-making entity what to do. The government is supposed to do what insurance companies say.

The Ryan plan is, in actuality Obamacare Lite. It runs on the same principle as the new health care bill only offering less to the people who need more. How is it that Obama's health plan is so terrible, but an even more deficient version of it is being touted by Republicans as the thing that is going to save us?

If Ryan wants to make a deal on destroying Medicare, he needs to bring more to the table, like a realistic way that old people can pay for their medical bills. Why doesn't he offer to end Medicare but extend coverage under the Obama system to the elderly. Or he can offer to eradicate Obama's plan and instead suggest Medicare for all. Otherwise he is fighting windmills. They can't even repeal the health care bill at this point. Do they really think they have a chance at doing away with Medicare?

While Ryan should get credit for coming up with the plan, he gets an F for creativity. Eliminating Medicare is an easy solution, but one that would make things worse as elderly people become catastrophically ill from lack of care. Then what, Paul? Old people dying in the streets? Why even bother putting any value on the voucher in the first place? There are solutions to our problems and there is no competition to see who gets the right answer first. Finding the right solution just takes time. Making it more difficult is the fact that responsible fiscal policy makes Republicans whine. In their fantasy world, taxes are a sin. They only support budget cuts which only amount to a token portion of the deficit.

And now the drama is playing out. Three quarters of Americans hate the Ryan Plan yet the Republicans won't cede that the Ryan Plan is dead because it would be admitting failure. Newt Gingrich panned the Ryan Plan and is now reversing his stand because his party viciously rebuked him. Meanwhile the House members who voted for the Ryan plan have a hot mess in their drawers because they now have to run for reelection having supported something so many people hate. Most people would call it crisis, but the Republicans call it just another day. None of the disarray is an issue in the end since Republicans don't win based on what they can and can't do; they win on their image which is "we're old-fashioned." Honestly, what person over the age of 35 doesn't want to turn back the hands of time a little? The problem is that the Grand Old Party wants to turn back the hands of time to the days before Medicare and Social Security again and again. They want to legislate as if there were only twenty or so states in the Union and a house cost a hundred bucks.

The world is changing at a fast pace and whatever the Republicans are trying to preserve is gone. Being nostalgic is one thing, but governing is another. Here in the real world people are going broke because the cost of living is being driven sky-high to the point where 15 grand is not nearly enough to insure a senior citizen. Our deficit is equal to our GDP. There is an answer, but it is not squeezing the aging population out of its access to health care. Back to the drawing board, Ryan.