What Mitt Romney says about Medicare

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“I just assume Medicare won’t be there for me at all,” said Christine Pallesen, a 26-year-old business consultant in Fort Lauderdale.

And that very thought is on the minds of everyone. We have heard many people we know say that very thing-- medicare is unsustainable in its present form.  We have been told that over and over again. Why then do people still like Obama?

According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, even when we discount the past two payroll tax holidays, Social Security is projected to run a $53 billion deficit in 2012 and a $937 billion deficit from 2013 through 2022. The Senate Budget Committee said that these figures were even too optimistic.

Mitt Romney has a plan:  His plan would not affect today’s seniors or those nearing retirement, and they would not raise taxes. He says that the future Medicare should give beneficiaries a generous defined contribution, or “premium support,” and allow them to choose between private plans and traditional Medicare.

Romney's Plan:

Nothing changes for current seniors or those nearing retirement

Medicare is reformed as a premium support system, meaning that existing spending is repackaged as a fixed-amount benefit to each senior that he or she can use to purchase an insurance plan

All insurance plans must offer coverage at least comparable to what Medicare provides today

If seniors choose more expensive plans, they will have to pay the difference between the support amount and the premium price; if they choose less expensive plans, they can use any leftover support to pay other medical expenses like co-pays and deductibles

“Traditional” fee-for-service Medicare will be offered by the government as an insurance plan, meaning that seniors can purchase that form of coverage if they prefer it; however, if it costs the government more to provide that service than it costs private plans to offer their versions, then the premiums charged by the government will have to be higher and seniors will have to pay the difference to enroll in the traditional Medicare option

Lower income seniors will receive more generous support to ensure that they can afford coverage; wealthier seniors will receive less support

Competition among plans to provide high quality service while charging low premiums will hold costs down while also improving the quality of coverage enjoyed by seniors

Source: Mitt Romney.com