Mediscare Through the Years

 On June 2, 2011, Sen. Marco Rubio, (R) Illinois said "Medicare is going bankrupt. I don't like that. No one likes that. But, that's the truth, and anyone who tells you that Medicare is not going bankrupt is not being truthful with you or the American public."  Phooey!

Here we go, again, folks.  This is the Republican equivalent of "the world is coming to an end."  They have been trying for decades to get rid of Social Security and Medicare and, for some reason, they seem to think they have a shot at it this year.

The following appeared in a story in the Daily Kos, by Joan McCarter. I thought it was worth repeating here, although I don't often publish stories word for word.  It is information we could all have ferreted out for ourselves, over time, but why not just read this?

"Chicago Tribune July 2, 1969:  The Medicare hospital trust fund faces bankruptcy by 1976 and taxes must either be raised or benefits reduced the senate finance committee was told today.

New York Times July 7, 1981: Medicare payroll taxes already imposed by Congress, including two increases scheduled for 1985 and 1986, will only be able to keep the hospital insurance system solvent for eight to 10 more years, three Cabinet officers informed Congress. Even under the Reagan Administration's highly optimistic economic projections, the fund will be bankrupt before 2000, the three said.

Washington Post,March 6, 1983: Senate Budget Committee Chairman Pete Domenici warned the nation's governors the other day, "Medicare can be bankrupt in 2 1/2 years," unless some way is found to put the brakes on its burgeoning costs.

Chicago Tribune: June 25, 1983:  Medicare is in danger of bankruptcy as early as 1986, the system’s trustees declared Friday.

Chicago Tribune, March 10 1984: To avert Medicare’s expected insolvency,  a  federal advisory council proposed Friday raising the eligibility age to 67, taxing employer paid health insurance benefits and boosting the tax on alcohol and tobacco…   the Congressional Budget Office said Medicare may be insolvent in 1989

New York Times, January 20, 1985: In the last few years, when it appeared that the Medicare trust fund would run out of money in 1987-89... But the need seemed less urgent after the Congressional Budget Office issued new estimates last September indicating that the Medicare trust fund would not go bankrupt until 1994

Chicago Tribune February 6, 1985:   Medicare is still expected to go bankrupt in 1991, and a new flood of red tape is not helping America's hospitals.

New York Times, March 27, 1985: Reagan Administration officials said tonight that new projections showed the Medicare trust fund would not go bankrupt until late in 1990's.

Chicago Tribune, Nov. 17 1985:  Last spring, the government estimated that the Medicare trust fund would run out of money by 1998. Given less optimistic assumptions about the economy, it could happen as soon as 1992

Washington Post, April 1, 1986: The Medicare hospital insurance program faces bankruptcy by 1996, two years earlier than projected last year.

Chicago Tribune, June 29, 1986: Dr. Jerald Schenken of Omaha, an AMA trustee, said the doctors have worked for more than two years on formulating the plan, because they fear the current Medicare system will go bankrupt by the end of the century.

New York Times, May 22, 1988: Reflecting the view of the Reagan Administration, Dr. William L. Roper, the head of the Federal Medicare and Medicaid agency, said, ''With the Medicare Trust Fund expected to go insolvent shortly after 2000, it is hard for us to sign on for a major expansion of the Medicare program beyond the catastrophic care bill.''

New York Times, January 22, 1989: The fund that pays all Government reimbursement for hospital care of Medicare patients is projected to become insolvent in the next decade or so.

Washington Post May 4, 1990: Control of health costs is considered by many experts to be the number one health problem in the United States. Such costs are expected to bankrupt Medicare by the year 2003."

 It's the same old thing. "The sky is falling, the sky is falling.  Be afraid, be very afraid!"

Everyone seems to enjoy blaming everything that is wrong in America on President Obama.  But, the fact is, the blame can be squarely placed at the doorsteps of the House and the Senate, both Republicans and Democrats alike.  They all like to posture and prance before the television cameras, but, frankly, I think we're in this sorry state because while they are very well aware of what need to be done to "fix" things, they simply aren't willing to make the necessary personal sacrifices, such as turning down the outrageous sum from lobbyists and PACs that have enriched them for so many years.  So, they blame each other and whoever is president, and go their merry ways, pocketing whatever they can, and making excuses and using scare tactics, not unlike the so-called preacher who keeps predicting the end of the world every few years.

They know and we know that doing away with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc., etc., etc., will not solve our economic problems. In fact, it would probably make things worse, much worse, for the Baby Boomers and beyond, who are just beginning to come of age.

Wouldn't it be nice if our politicians would just open their eyes and do the right things?  I think we could all make a pretty long list of things that could be done before they gut the entitlement programs, don't you?

Stay tuned.

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