Why We Would All Be Better Off without the Republican Party: National Health Spending Edition
Paul Van de Water:
Off the Charts Blog | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: To some extent, the [Rep. Paul] Ryan plan [to eliminate Medicare and replace it with vouchers to purchase private insurance] would shift health care costs from Medicare to the program’s beneficiaries. But... the much bigger news is that Ryan’s plan would increase total health spending for the elderly — the beneficiaries’ share plus the government’s share — by upwards of 40 percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).... First, private insurance plans have much higher administrative costs than Medicare. Second, private plans have less bargaining power with health care providers and are unable to negotiate payment rates that are as low as Medicare’s...
Almost everybody who seeks to bring the government's long-run spending on health care under control seeks to do so by making the overall health care system more efficient--to get us more health bang for our buck. Only Paul Ryan and his Republicans are an exception...
