President Obama criticized Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan’s plans on privatizing Medicare, saying at the first debate that the proposals would cause Medicare to collapse.
“The idea was originally presented by Congressman Ryan — your running mate — we would get a voucher to seniors, and they could go out in the private marketplace and buy their own health insurance. The problem is that because the voucher would not necessarily keep up with healthcare inflation, this would cost the average senior about $6,000 per year. “Now in fairness, Gov. Romney has said he will maintain traditional Medicare alongside it. There is still a problem. Those insurance companies are clever about figuring out who are the younger and healthier seniors. They recruit them, leaving the older, sicker seniors in Medicare. Every health care economist says overtime, the traditional Medicare system will collapse, and you have people like my grandmother at the mercy of the private insurance system when they are most in need of decent health care. I do not think vouchers are the right way to go.”
