Trump may delay signing tax bill to put off automatic cuts to Medicare until 2019

[HCTC]

No tax cuts for Christmas? Trump might delay bill signing - CBS News

 

[Theo520]

Very possible this is the reason. Obama delayed the ACA rollout for years to avoid the business impacts.

 

[lmachine]

Huh, I thought this bill was supposed to be good for most people. Cutting millions of people’s healthcare seems pretty bad!

 

[HCTC]

Correct me if I am wrong, but my recollection is that Trump promised on numerous occasions not to cut Medicare.

 

[stinkcat_14]

Medicare should be cut and the sooner the better.

 

[Stephen_C]

My son is a type 1 Diabetic. He works. (pays taxes) But cannot afford insurance. He qualifies for Medicaid. With out it he would not be able to afford all the office visits and his insulin. So it has been a life saver for us. I know this thread is about Medicare but Medicaid is also going to get clipped with this bill.

 

[JoshuaIsLord]

I am fortunate enough to be a Veteran. I get my diabetic care thru the VA.
There are things you don’t frak with? Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

IMHO, the basis for Medicare and Medicaid stems from the parable of the Good Samaritan.

 

[JoshuaIsLord]

Medicare should be cut and the sooner the better.

Well if it gets cut, I hope It adversely affects your elderly relatives and anybody’s elderly relatives that thinks like you.

My elderly relatives are on Medicare, you don’t frak with the Elderly.

 

[JoshuaIsLord]

Correct me if I am wrong, but my recollection is that Trump promised on numerous occasions not to cut Medicare.

You are corrected, you are not wrong.

 

[Theo520]

My son is a type 1 Diabetic. He works. (pays taxes) But cannot afford insurance. He qualifies for Medicaid. With out it he would not be able to afford all the office visits and his insulin. So it has been a life saver for us. I know this thread is about Medicare but Medicaid is also going to get clipped with this bill.

Medicaid is a state expense, supported by federal $.
Can’t your state choose to allocate more of their tax revenue towards the cause?

 

[JoshuaIsLord]

Medicaid is a state expense, supported by federal $.

Can’t your state choose to allocate more of their tax revenue towards the cause?

It depends on the redness and the poorness of the State

The Medicaid program is jointly funded by the federal government and states. The federal government pays states for a specified percentage of program expenditures, called the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP).

FMAP varies by state based on criteria such as per capita income. The regular average state FMAP is 57%, but ranges from 50% in wealthier states up to 75% in states with lower per capita incomes (the maximum regular FMAP is 82 %).

Regulations provide guidance for states on implementing Medicaid state plan payment rates consistent with the Act (the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 42 CFR 430 and 42 CFR 447).

 

[Theo520]

Thanks for the detail, so it is technically a state program but the majority of the funding is Federal.

 

[JoshuaIsLord]

Here are the 2017 numbers:

FY2017 Federal Medical Assistance Percentages | ASPE

for each state

 

[JoshuaIsLord]

Thanks for the detail, so it is technically a state program but the majority of the funding is Federal.

yep…
And with ACA, the poorest of the States get funded 100% IE my state of Alabama. Matching

 

[stinkcat_14]

Well if it gets cut, I hope It adversely affects your elderly relatives and anybody’s elderly relatives that thinks like you.

My elderly relatives are on Medicare, you don’t frak with the Elderly.

Why should the taxpayer pay for what they can pay for themselves? They saved money for their retirement, old age is a predictable risk. One can set aside for it. No need for an expensive government bureaucracy.

 

[dvdjs]

old age is a predictable risk.

What is the population distribution of medical costs incurred through old age? How broad does that distrubtion have to be before one considers the costs not particularly predictable?

 

[stinkcat_14]

What is the population distribution of medical costs incurred through old age? How broad does that distrubtion have to be before one considers the costs not particularly predictable?

One can buy insurance for healthcare costs. If one is willing to cover the first 10-20k of expenses out of pocket then premiums are very reasonable. It is nothing to acquire $100-200k during a working life to offset the potential medical costs of old age. It just takes some personal responsibility.

 

[dvdjs]

rs the costs not particularly predictable?

One can buy insurance for healthcare costs.

OK. I thought you were talking about individuals paying for predictable costs of old age themselves, rather than through a insurance pool.

The utility of the government “insurance” program is that the pool covers the entire population. And just as with the insurance industry, working in a democracy to establish a government program is a way of people taking care of themselves.

 

[JoshuaIsLord]

They saved money for their retirement

On the whole only those in higher tax brackets can actually save for their retirement. Those the live paycheck to paycheck their entire lives don’t have that luxury. And as you get older, your private premiums get Higher, HIgher, HIGher, HIGHer, HIGHEr, and HIGHER.

Paternal Grandfather died before he could retire due to lung cancer when I was in the 5th grade roughly 44 years ago.

Maternal Grandfather died 4 years ago at a ripe old age of 92. He was in a higher tax bracket for most of his life. But needed the full benefits of Medicare to keep him alive for that long

 

[stinkcat_14]

OK. I thought you were talking about individuals paying for predictable costs of old age themselves, rather than through a insurance pool.

The utility of the government “insurance” program is that the pool covers the entire population. And just as with the insurance industry, working in a democracy to establish a government program is a way of people taking care of themselves.

The problem with government health insurance is that it is a huge redistribution program of the worst kind. Poor and middle class folks sacrifice for the wealthy. A private insurance policy is more just because there is no unjust redistribution.