A client sent me an article by Allan Sloan from Fortune dated May 2, 2011 entitled "The Hocus-Pocus Behind Paul Ryan's Medicare Reform."
He is certainly no fan of Obama-care, calling it "long on regulations and short on common sense," because it doesn't penalize those who eat, drink or smoke too much nor deal with the malpractice lawyers.
Yet, he calls the Paul Ryan plan unworkable as well, saying "It's wonderful to talk about empowering people -- but you also have to protect them, especially when their abilities, health, and finances are less than optimal. It's hard enough for young, healthy people to pick among health insurance policies. The idea of old, sick, and financially stressed people being able to competently sort through pages and pages of Medicare options is ludicrous." That struck a chord with me.
Years ago, when I started my own business, I had to buy a health care policy on the private market. Even though I had three degrees from three colleges, three different certifications, and over three decades of experience, I felt completely clueless in sorting through all the options, especially since I had only the vaguest idea what coverages I might need in the future.
As it turns out, there was no decision to make since only one company would insure me anyway. The two others declined, allegedly because I had gout ten years earlier. (I suspect the truth was that I was not young enough for them.)
Medicare is a ticking time-bomb. Obama-care was not the cure and neither is Ryan-care! Maybe, it is also about the paygrade for the elected children in Congress . . .
