Barack Obama’s namesake healthcare scheme will cut $716 billion from Medicare over the next 10 years. Add to this a dramatic reduction in Medicare-related reimbursement for doctors and hospitals, and countless seniors may find it difficult to obtain necessary medical treatment. Following are Medicare facts most baby boomers may know little or nothing about. But those who must depend upon Medicare over the next decade are going to get a real education, an education in the true nature of death panels and socialized medicine. 1) “Medicare is essentially compulsory. People who refuse to join Medicare Part A are not allowed to receive their earned Social Security benefits. On June 30, 2011, U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint and 12 GOP colleagues introduced the Retirement Freedom Act to decouple Medicare from Social Security. On February 7, 2012, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals held that ‘because plaintiffs are entitled to Social Security benefits and are 65 or older, they are automatically entitled to Medicare Part A benefits. The statute offers no path to disclaim their legal entitlement to Medicare Part A benefits.’” 2) “Medicare patients cannot pay cash for care. A 1997 law (Balanced Budget Act, section 4507) forbids private contracts between patients and doctors.” This means that “Medicare recipients cannot pay cash for a Medicare-covered service that Medicare DENIES until the doctor has opted out of Medicare.” (My Caps) So Medicare patients must first find a fee for a service doctor or specialist and then HOPE he will be willing and able to treat them! It is incredible that it makes no difference that Medicare has DENIED their claim. (Remember that illegals may well get this same treatment free of charge simply by walking into the nearest Emergency Room.) 3) “Initial refusal to enroll in Medicare Part B leads to costly penalties. Seniors are automatically enrolled in Medicare Part B. Those who refuse and later change their minds will pay a premium for the rest of their lives that is 10 percent higher for each year they were not enrolled.” Seventy seven million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964 are currently becoming eligible for Medicare enrollment. The number of Medicare beneficiaries will grow “…from 50.7 million in 2012 to 81 million in 2030.” During the next 17 years, doctors and hospitals will be reimbursed at a lower rate for Medicare services with each passing year. At the same time, the number of qualified physicians is expected to decrease dramatically as the number of older patients requiring care skyrockets. The left were hardly unaware of these facts when they rammed the Affordable Care Act through Congress. In 2012, appx 56% of Americans 65 or older voted for Mitt Romney. As weak and disappointing as this Obama-lite candidate was, he received a strong majority of the senior vote. So the question becomes, in addition to acquiring the power of life and death over the American people, has the Affordable Care Act provided Democrats a method of “cancelling out” the Republican edge among future senior voters?
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