With the 2007 budget being released Monday, more bits are being revealed to the press. This one concerns Bush’s latest attempts to hurt Medicare. They involve cutting $30 – $35 billion from the program. So cuts, which are achieved through higher premiums, are morally acceptable. They include raising rates on Medicare beneficiaries with income above $80,000 a year. My only concern is for those with massive medical expenses, as some people will see rates double in 2007.

These concerns are nothing compared to part of this plan. The plan involves cutting payments to doctors and hospitals, not raising rates. Raising rates would hurt millions of people directly, causing a public outcry. By hurting the doctors and hospitals, care goes down, and the system itself is hurt. If payments are frozen or reduced, doctors and hospitals will complain about the system to the government. This outcry can than be used against the system, which takes the blame instead of the administration. Also, there will be a freeze in payments to nursing homes, resulting in worse care or higher rates, which some simply cannot afford.

This plan is horrible for doctors, nursing homes, hospitals, and in the end, for patients. The political effects can play out one of two ways. As described above, the system can come under attack, causing it to be scaled back even further, or even more privatized. Or, it could work to the Democrats advantage. If people get into hard times with healthcare, Democrats can have increased attention when outlining a public healthcare system. I hope it works out in the Democrats favor, so the negative effects of this budget proposal at least lead to good.

Note: Internet isn't working right, so for now, heres the address. Hope to fix this later
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2006-02-04T064854Z_01_N04329785_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-MEDICARE.xml&archived=False