Posted by phillipa on October 12, 2012, at 9:55:39
I don't know doesn't sound good. Heard Biden was a giggling fool. What do you all think? Phillipa
From Medscape Medical NewsBiden, Ryan Come Out Swinging on Medicare in Debate
Robert Lowes
Authors and Disclosures
Posted: 10/12/2012
October 11, 2012 In their one and only debate, Vice President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan (R-WI) tonight tried to portray each other as Medicare wreckers, and themselves as Medicare saviors.
They picked up where President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney left off on this subject in their debate last week, except that Biden gave the kind of aggressive, impassioned performance that Obama didn't. For his part, Ryan remained cool and firm despite Biden's rhetorical fire, interruptions, and good-natured cackling.
The debate, held at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, covered both foreign and domestic policy. Debate moderator Martha Raddatz, senior foreign affairs correspondent for ABC News, introduced the subject of healthcare when she asked the 2 men seated across from her at a semi-circular table if Social Security and Medicare benefits would have to change for the programs to survive.
Ryan repeated the Romney charge that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) cut $716 billion from Medicare to pay for "Obamacare." Biden countered that the cuts did not affect seniors' benefits, which he said have grown under the law. "Do you have more benefits today," he asked, looking at the television camera. "You do." He cited lower costs in the Medicare Part D drug program and free wellness visits as examples.
Instead, the ACA saved Medicare $716 billion by reducing overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans, hospitals, and other providers, Biden said. Ryan pounced on that statement.
"One out of 6 hospitals and nursing homes will go out of business as a result of this," said Ryan.
Like Romney, Ryan also took a shot at the controversial Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) that the ACA created to rein in Medicare spending. Ryan said it would lead to "denied care."
"The board, by the way, is 15 people the president is supposed to appoint next year," said Ryan, "and not one of them even has to have medical training."
By law, IPAB is forbidden to recommend rationing care, restricting benefits, modifying eligibility, raising Medicare beneficiary premiums, or increasing Medicare deductibles, coinsurance, or copayments. Biden did not point out these limitations, but instead dismissed Ryan's comments by saying, "I heard this death panel argument from Sarah Palin."
Bureaucrats, Vouchers, and Trust
Perhaps the most heated exchanges between the 2 vice presidential candidates dealt with the Romney/Ryan plan to convert Medicare into a premium support or "voucher" program. Seniors would receive a fixed amount of money to purchase either traditional Medicare coverage or a private plan. Americans ages 55 years and older would be grandfathered into the current program, as would current beneficiaries.
"We would rather have seniors determine how their Medicare is delivered to them," said Ryan, "instead of 15 bureaucrats deciding what, if, where, and when they get it."
Ryan said it was necessary to reform both Medicare and Social Security for "my generation" so that the programs would not crumble for Americans now near retirement.
Biden argued that premium support payments would not keep up with healthcare costs, leaving seniors with more of the bill. He said an earlier version of the voucher plan that Ryan introduced in 2011 would add $6400 to a senior's healthcare costs, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). "Governor Romney said, 'I will sign it,' " Biden noted.
Ryan said that this CBO estimate is misleading because the Republican ticket is not advocating this plan, but a new bipartisan one crafted with the help of Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR). "There's not one Democrat who supports it," Biden interrupted, adding that Wyden has withdrawn his endorsement.
Several times during the debate, Biden asked listeners which party they trusted to ensure the life of Medicare. Republicans, he said, "have not been big on Medicare since the beginning." Ryan, in turn, accused Biden and his fellow Democrats of stooping to scare tactics.
This back-and-forth on Medicare is sure to resume when Romney and Obama debate a second time on October 16 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, tackling foreign as well as domestic policy. The third and final presidential debate, to be focused exclusively on foreign policy, is scheduled for October 22 at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida.
poster:phillipa
thread:1028409
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20121009/msgs/1028409.html