• September 2008 FEATURE ARTICLES •
From the Editor
Through a Glass Darkly
by Michael McBride
Congress, today, overrode President Bush’s
veto and passed H.R. 6331, a bill originally designed to delay a
scheduled decrease in Medicare reimbursements that became so
packed with Congressional fodder it was guaranteed to be vetoed
by the administration. Doctors now anticipate a reimbursement
increase
instead of a sizable decrease. Competitive bidding on durable
equipment contracts has been limited, or removed, stalling
market forces. The political power grab is obvious and benefits
anyone in favor of big government and national healthcare.
Setting aside the political loss to the White House, which is a
non-issue, some claim the big losers are insurance companies
that participated in Medicare Advantage, a program that enabled
recipients to choose among various health plans based on price
versus coverage, and introduced market forces to Medicare.
Generally, recipients received expanded coverage at reduced
rates, so it’s hard to figure why Congress should want it
removed; nevertheless, millions of recipients will now see their
coverage go down and premiums go up without Medicare Advantage.
I can’t fault physicians for wanting fair
reimbursements for their services. Who doesn’t? But at what
point do reimbursements become subsidies? We must acknowledge
that Medicare is failing and someone is going to foot the bill.
Regardless of how long this obfuscation takes or how dark it
becomes, Medicare’s insolvency is assured, unless some group
accepts a loss to save the nation. Currently, that sacrificial
lamb is our grandchildren’s generation, who will likely see
healthcare absorb 50 percent of America’s GDP, and who will fund
through exorbitant taxation, an entitlement program on which
they cannot personally rely.
Congress voted Medicare into law in 1965
against 30 years of vigorous public opposition. Forty-three
years later, dire predictions are coming true. During U.S. House
Hearings in 1964, Senator Karl Mundt (R., S.D.) said that
Medicare "would be exceedingly difficult to discontinue without
breaking faith with those who have to pay the tax." After
Medicare’s passage in 1965, Senator Mundt described it as,
"another step toward destroying the independence and
self-reliance in America, which is the first best hope of
individual freedom for all mankind."
As it was in 1965, Congress’ victory today is
America’s failure
tomorrow.
