Despite President Obama’s pledge that “if you like your health care plan you can keep it”, he has admitted that he intends to scuttle the popular Medicare Advantage program.
A recent USA Today article, “Seniors Defend Medicare Plan Obama Calls Wasteful”, it is clear that many seniors desire to keep their plan. According to the article:
Medicare Advantage has its roots in the 1970s but was bolstered in 2003 in hopes that private companies could manage Medicare patients more efficiently. Partly because it often has lower out-of-pocket costs than traditional Medicare, enrollment has nearly doubled over six years, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report.
Obama’s proposal to eliminate Medicare Advantage (seeYouTube clip here) dovetails with his desire for a single payer system. As noted in “Obama Proposes Eliminating Medicare Advantage, Ousting 9 Million Seniors from Their Health Plans”, this breaks a campaign promise:
For Obama to suggest eliminating Medicare Advantage outright, however, is extraordinary. First, Obama made a campaign promise that he will let Americans keep their current health insurance. Eliminating Medicare Advantage would force 9 million seniors out of their current health plans and back into traditional Medicare. Second, a man who wants to reform America’s health care sector ought not begin the effort by proposing to take something away from seniors, America’s largest and most politically active voting block .
It must be recalled that, despite his campaign pledge, which he continues to repeat (at best irresponsible), he ultimately intends to replace the private market with a single payer government operated health insurance monopoly. (See YouTube clip featuring “Obama on Single Payer Insurance“)