The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis., the ticking Medicare clock, from Aug. 23, 2012:
The recent debate about the future of Medicare is being framed as the Democrats doing nothing as the system goes broke and the Republicans privatizing the program so they can shove granny off a cliff.
Voters who haven't been hypnotized by the political extremes - and hopefully there are some of those left - are clamoring for some middle ground on which our elected leaders could work together to head off a calamity.
The status quo is not an option. The Medicare Trustees' most recent report predicts that after 75 years the government health care system for retirees will have an unfunded liability of $38.6 trillion, or nearly $330,000 per household. The trustees predict that from 2045 to 2085, tax revenues would cover about 67 to 69 percent of projected expenditures. Don't touch "my" Medicare, indeed.
To make matters worse, current law calls for a 31 percent cut in payment rates to doctors for Medicaid patients next year. However, Congress has approved similar cutbacks every year since 2003, and every time it has rescinded the cuts after providers protested.
There are some obvious things lawmakers should do but won't because they lack the backbone lest they be voted out of office. Sadly, that says more about the ignorance of the electorate and the power of negative advertising than the wisdom of lawmakers who are nothing if not survivors. ..
The need to lay out a plan of shared sacrifice to preserve Medicare for future generations is crucial. That won't happen before the election. And, sadly, given the seemingly never-ending election cycle, it may never happen, or at least not until it's too late.
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