21 October 2008

Forty or older...read this! McCain is not your friend!

Obama does not just need to win, he needs to win big and he needs to win across all demographics. This will enable him to put through his programs and to undo the harm that Bush and the Republicans have done. Right now, the one demographic which is the most resistant to his policies and message are "older Americans" and it behooves us to speak plainly and frankly to them as to where lie their best interests.

McCain has great vulnerability on at least two critical issues for seniors, Medicare and Social Security. No thinking older person, with all the facts about McCain and his position on these important programs, would ever vote for him. Today, we'll examine McCain and Medicare. Next, Social Security.

McCain and Medicare:
Health care costs are rising creating tremendous problems for patients and doctors. Some doctors have dropped Medicare patients because they cannot cover their expenses. McCain sided with Bush and Insurance companies last summer in an attempt to reduce doctor's fee by 10%. This would have resulted in it being even harder for older Americans on Medicare to get their needed treatment.

Part of McCain's Three-Card Monte campaign patter is that he'll cut Medicare costs by $1.3 trillion dollars. He says he will do it by cutting "fraud & waste" and by "reforming payment policies". Do the math! Wait. You're a liberal arts major? I'll do it for you.

According to the GAO, Medicare is run more efficiently than any private insurance company with far less of its money going to "administrative" costs than does that of those insurance companies. And, Medicare has some of the best, and most up-to-date, fraud detection software in the world. Yes, there no doubt is some fraud and some waste, but not $1.3 trillion.

There is only one way to carve out that $1.3-trillion and that is by "reforming payment policies". In every day terms, all that means is that he will pursue the Bush plan of cutting payments to your doctors. And that means fewer doctors are going to take Medicare patients. And, those doctors who will still accept Medicare will be reluctant to perform certain services when they can't bill Medicare for the real cost of the procedure.

This does not affect just seniors, it touches their kids and their grand kids, because if grandma and grandpa can't get the health care they need because John McCain has choked off their coverage, guess where the burden will fall.

Print this , take it with you, and the next person of forty or more who wants to talk about Obama being this or that, simply give them the facts about what McCain is going to do to their, or their parents, or grand parents health care.

A safe, secure and dignified retirement in the best possible health is a right, not a privilege. A well-funded Medicare program is a keystone to that right!

Next: McCain and Social Security.

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