BCT Editorial – 1/31/05

This page was last updated on February 2, 2005.

Unfair and unjust; Editorial; Beaver County Times; January 31, 2005.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“The government-subsidized health-care gap between the haves and the have-nots is growing wider and even more unjust.

“The New York Times reports the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is about to expand coverage for implantable cardioverter-defibrillators. New research has shown these devices could increase the chances of survival of substantial numbers of elderly people on Medicare, the paper reports.

“Medicare will pay about $30,000 for each patient who receives one of these defibrillators.

“According to one published report, this new benefit could cost about $3 billion a year.

“More than 500,000 Medicare beneficiaries are eligible for the coverage, the paper reports.

“The coverage expansion comes at a time when costs are exploding. Medicare’s so-called trust fund is expected to go bust by 2019, and the day of reckoning could come sooner because, as the Los Angeles Times has reported, its ‘condition has been going from bad to worse.’”

[RWC] Regarding the editorial’s comment about “Medicare’s so-called trust fund,” there are no “trust funds” for Socialist Security and Medicare and there never were. This is liberal propaganda we’ve heard since Socialist Security’s birth in 1935. From day one the taxes collected by these schemes went into the general fund. In return, these schemes received IOUs.

“For the moment, though, put aside the cost and health benefits of this decision.

“Instead, focus on the fairness of expanding a massive governmental health-care entitlement when millions of Americans have no coverage at all and, to add insult to injury, will see their wages go to subsidize the new coverage.”

[RWC] Let’s see. Medicare was inflicted on us in the 1960s and the Times just figured this out? Medicare has operated this way since 1965, just as Socialist Security has operated since 1935. In both Ponzi schemes, current taxpayers pay the benefits of current beneficiaries.

“Under current law, 1.45 percent of workers’ wages go to subsidize Medicare. Their employers match that 1.45 percent. Self-employed workers must contribute 2.9 percent of their earnings to underwrite Medicare. (Workers’ contributions cover about three-fourths of Medicare’s Plan A and Plan B costs.)”

[RWC] Another liberal fable. Employers do not match the 1.45% paid by workers. Workers pay the entire 2.9% (and the entire 12.4% for Socialist Security). The gross wages shown on most pay statements already have the other 1.45% -- and SS’s other 6.2% -- taken out.

“At present, some 43-plus millions of Americans have no health-care coverage whatsoever, while millions more are underinsured. If they are working, they are subsidizing Medicare.”

[RWC] The first sentence of this paragraph is BS! First, the Census Bureau acknowledges its 43 million figure overstates the uninsured because the survey is not primarily designed to gather this data. Second, if you went without insurance for even a few days between jobs, you are counted as uninsured for the entire year. This alone greatly inflates the uninsured figure. Third, the number of persons covered by Medicaid is underreported. For some reason, the number of persons who report they are covered by Medicaid is lower than that shown in Medicaid records. Another reason is some persons eligible for Medicaid don’t sign up.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates the chronically uninsured is roughly 9.1 million persons. Of that 9.1 million, approximately one million simply choose not to purchase health insurance because they don’t feel they need it.

How many chronically uninsured people want but can’t afford insurance? The CBO doesn’t have this figure. A lot of those persons surveyed complain about the expense, but there are no figures to say how many of the 8.1 million really can’t afford insurance vs. how many simply choose to spend their money on other things.

In any case, the number of chronically uninsured people who want but truly can’t afford insurance is less than 18% of the uninsured figure liberals like to throw around. That’s less than 3% of the population. Remember, not having health insurance is not the same as not having health care. As with education, however, providing healthcare is definitely not a federal responsibility and should not be a responsibility of any level of government.

“It is inherently unfair and unjust to expand a government entitlement and force workers with no or inadequate health-care coverage to pay for it. Where is the justice in this?”

[RWC] The paragraph is almost right. It should have read, “It is inherently unfair and unjust to expand a government entitlement and force taxpayers ~~workers with no or inadequate health-care coverage~~ to pay for it.”

“We opposed the creation of a Medicare drug prescription program because it was too costly and would be unfair to uninsured and underinsured workers.”

[RWC] Here’s the correct interpretation of this paragraph. “We opposed the creation of a Medicare drug prescription program because it did not provide free full government run healthcare for everyone ~~was too costly and would be unfair to uninsured and underinsured workers~~.” If you believe the Times really cared about the program’s cost, I have a bridge to sell you.

“The I.C.D. expansion, while not as costly, is cut from the same cloth.”