skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Parties Debate How to Slow Medicare Costs

play audio
Play

Tuesday, September 18, 2012   

PHOENIX - Both sides in this year's national election agree the country is going to have to cut spending growth in Medicare. But Democrats want to reduce payments to health-care providers, while Republicans want to change Medicare to a voucher program. Republicans say private insurance company competition would reduce costs and let the government shrink the vouchers over time.

Primary-care physician Dr. Cathleen London disagrees. She believes the insurance companies would actually charge more, and uses the analogy of buying a soft drink.

"You want to buy this lemonade, and it's five dollars. Up until now, we've given you that five-dollar lemonade. But now, here, we're going to give you three dollars and tell you to go buy that lemonade on the market."

Democrats favor letting an Independent Payment Advisory Board recommend how much Medicare should pay for what medical procedures, and giving the board the power to restrain costs. But Congressman Joe Pitts, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Health of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and is a leading Republican voice on health care, sees the IPAB as "rationing."

"Once they make a recommendation, you're going to have de facto rationing, and you're never going to be able to overturn it. Now, if you've got the money, you can private pay, but if you don't, you're going to have to wait longer for doctors."

Democrats argue that private health plans "ration" all the time. Dr. London views that as smart management of taxpayers' money.

"If I find out that a screening test is not worthy, why am I doing it? But that's not 'rationing,' that's 'rational.'"

Another disagreement centers around the $700 billion over ten years that the Obama administration cut from Medicare provider payments. Pitts calls that "raiding" Medicare, although he admits the same cuts were in the GOP budget proposal by vice-presidential nominee Paul Ryan, a budget plan Pitts supports.

"I voted for the Ryan budget, which is recognizing existing law. But if we get in control, we will repeal Obamacare, we will repeal those cuts."

The stakes in this debate are especially high in Arizona, where roughly one million seniors depend on Medicare for most of their health care.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Many factors affect a customer's bill amount, including energy usage, weather, and the number of days in a billing period, according to Arizona Public Service. (Jason Yoder/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …


More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social media platform X temporarily shutdown searches of "Taylor Swift" following the release of explicit deepfake images in early 2024. (Mdv Edwards/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021