Pollster.com

Whatever it is you think we should all assume from this ad didn't get through to me. Need you say more? Yes. The whole world doesn't see things through your left-leaning glasses.

There are as many studies out there that show every word of this to be true as there are studies that just the opposite. You have chosen which ones to believe but not everyone shares those opinions.

There are 10 million seniors enrolled in Medicare Advantage who will tell you that Medicare will get much worse if it is taken away from them. 10 million seniors will lose their insurance and have to go on a plan they don't want. Many of them will have to change doctors because their current doctors won't deal with the cumbersome and expensive Medicare system. So in what way does Obamacare not make Medicare weaker?

The other statement you highlighted? You might not agree but about 150 million people would.

**NEWS FLASH** for you Gary.

Medicare IS GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTHCARE!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

I am going insane here. How many times must this be said before people get it.

The blog post author is not trying to say it won't weaken Medicare, what he is trying to say is being against government run healthcare and then being for Medicare is being a HYPOCRITE!

And yet after all these months of debates there are still people like Gary who don't realize that Medicare is a GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTHCARE PROGRAM!!!!

This....is....I-N-S-A-N-E!

Oh and by the way, Republicans have been against Medicare and have been trying to undermine it since it got started. In the 60s when Medicare was being enacted, Reagan said Medicare would lead our country towards socialism. In the 90s, Newt Gingrich shut down the government in an attempt to get through huge cuts to Medicare.

Now, the Republicans make themselves out to be defenders of Medicare! And do they really think they can get away with this?.....Well, as people like Gary Wagner show, yes they can get away with it and they are.

**NEWS FLASH** for you Gary.

Medicare IS GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTHCARE!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

I am going insane here. How many times must this be said before people get it.

The blog post author is not trying to say it won't weaken Medicare, what he is trying to say is being against government run healthcare and then being for Medicare is being a HYPOCRITE!

And yet after all these months of debates there are still people like Gary who don't realize that Medicare is a GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTHCARE PROGRAM!!!!

This....is....I-N-S-A-N-E!

Oh and by the way, Republicans have been against Medicare and have been trying to undermine it since it got started. In the 60s when Medicare was being enacted, Reagan said Medicare would lead our country towards socialism. In the 90s, Newt Gingrich shut down the government in an attempt to get through huge cuts to Medicare.

Now, the Republicans make themselves out to be defenders of Medicare! And do they really think they can get away with this?.....Well, as people like Gary Wagner show, yes they can get away with it and they are.

I just can't get over this. Medicare, a GOVERNMENT RUN, subsidy program for healthcare, is being defended by "Conservative, free market loving" Gary.

The insanity of it all!!!

Medicare, the subsidy program that Republicans have attacked for years, because they say it's full of fraud and about to go bankrupt and should be privatized and should exert no negotiating power to try and get the costs of healthcare down, is not being defended by..............REPUBLICANS!

And they are getting away with it...I just can't believe this. Are people really that stupid?

Medicare is government run, but what i think Sue is getting at is government "control" of health care. Medicare is simply the government paying your health care bills. If Medicare doesn't cover something, the patient can still pay out of pocket for the procedure. In addition, a significant portion of Medicares backroom operations, e.g. processing claims, are outsourced to private insurance companies like United Healthcare and Aetna.

Government run, in my opinion, would be more like the VA where they have their own hospitals and procedures, etc. Medicare is simply a form of payment for health care, not government run medicine. See the difference?

Medicare is the main driver of our health care inflation. When you couple a fast aging population with increased supply of new drugs and technology with an unhealthy population (the cigarette generation), you get fast rising costs. The only way Medicare works (and many argue it doesn't even work this way) is its subsidized by people with private health insurance, those under 65. Doctors, hospitals and other providers of care make up the revenue shortfall created by low medicare reimbursement rates by increasing their private insurance rates faster.

There is also rampant fraud within Medicare. The HHS recently released a report indicating they believed as many as 10% of all medicare claims were fraudulent. Can you imagine any private entity having 10% fraud within it. Walmart, for instance, has 0.002% fraud (mostly shoplifting) and they have a new program out to combat. Where is the government program to stop medicare fraud?

Those that espouse Medicare for all are avoiding the glaring 900 lb gorilla in the room. That is the $39 trillion unfunded mandate.

We need to slowly reduce the amount of people on medicare and the future medicare rolls. The age of attainment needs to be raised to 70 immediately. Then, for people under 45, it should be raise to 75. For people under 35 to 80 and for those under 25 to 85.

Otherwise, we are the next Greece. Not because of private insurance but because of Government-run insurance.

There are many stuff I agree with that you wrote Field Marshall (but a lot more that I disagree with) and we can have a whole big argument about the merits and demerits of healthcare reform/Medicare/etc.

BUT, that's not the point here. The point is the hypocrisy of being FOR Medicare and being against Obama's health care plan. The point is that so many people see nothing wrong with the following statemenet:

"I don't want socialized medicine! I don't want my country to be like Russia! And get your government hands OFF MY MEDICARE!!"

As someone who recognizes the problem of America's long term deficit, you should be horrified by that previous statement. Because even though it is serving your side well now, whenever it's your turn to govern and you try to do something about Medicare, those same townhall and Tea Party people are going to come after you.

First off, let's get something straight. Medicare Advantage is NOT Medicare. It's a private industry "faux Medicare" program that was foisted on unsuspecting seniors as a supposedly better program than "original" Medicare because they gave you a few bucks extra in vision care coverage.

I fell for that ruse and switched about 1 1/2 years ago from regular Medicare to a Medicare Advantage program. What happened? I got stuck with thousands of dollars of co-pays which original Medicare, with my supplemental coverage at a fraction of the cost of the co-pays, would have covered completely for me. And Medicare Advantage programs get billions of extra federal subsidies.

Then the Medicare Advantage program I was in dramatically raised the monthly premium, eliminated caps on the co-pay and increased co-pays by 50-100% across the board. As soon as I could, I switched back to original Medicare with my original no-co-pay supplemental coverage.

The health care bill shouldn't just cut Medicare Advantage subsidies -- it should cancel the program altogether. It's a total fraud on seniors and rips off the taxpayer.

Regular Medicare, Part A & B & D + any of 10 supplemental plans that have very modest premiums, is the best health insurance I have ever had in my life. And of course is run and managed by the government, which does a heck of a lot better -- and cheaper job -- and managing the program than any top heavy private health care company.

Roman,

I agree that its a bit contradictory. However, like i said previously, i don't consider Medicare government run, simply a different biller. Why? Because to the doctor, it makes no difference; you get the same care as if you were under private insurance. The provider is simply sending the bill to another third party.

Your last paragraph makes a lot of sense. Hence the problem with most entitlement programs. And i can see why people are angry. Can you imagine paying into a system your entire working life and then, when its your turn to collect, the say we are cutting your payouts? I would be pissed too.

Essentially, this is why i think the people are angry and proclaiming such statements. As an American, you automatically "prepay" for your medicare benefits. Hence, when you reach 65, the feeling that the benefits are "yours".

Nelcon,

Medicare advantage is a highly successful and popular program among seniors. Heck, it was even started by a democratic president. The number of seniors on medicare advantage has skyrocketed in the last 5 years due to its popularity, doulbing in the time frame and now representing 19% of all medicare eligible citizens.

Also, as most people don't realize, most of the regular Medicare that you like so much is actually run by private insurance companies because they are much more efficient than the government. In fact, UHC just recently announced a new contract whereby they would be taking on more of the billing processes for Medicare.

Medicare is highly popular among seniors. But i like to give the analogy that liking medicare is like saying that i like going to the grocery store and buying the same groceries as everyone else but paying half the price. In effect, the other shoppers are subsidizing your food. Its the same as medicare. Medicare doesnt work without the other half of the country not subsidizing your care which gets us back to the original hypothecation of assuming that you own your own entitlement benefits and that the government cannot come in and take them, a la' "get your hands off my medicare".

Field Marshal,

It doesn't matter what you consider Medicare to be. You could think of it as run by unicorns or ponies for all I care.

But Medicare is a single-payer health insurance system. The government pays the bills, decides which treatments are covered, sets the premiums and collects taxes. That's the system that they have in Canada.

And the VA, the system you smear as "government-run", sounds a lot like the British NHS. Oh, and even according to dishonest opportunists like Bill Kristol, it offers the best care in the world.

So stop pretending that this candidate is anything other than a joke. She's cynically preying on the public's ignorance and you're dishonestly pretending that it's not so.

Oh, and you know what would keep people from getting all defensive about their benefits when they turn 65? Having universal access to health care from age 0, not raising it to 85.

You don't have a shred of credibility on cost control and entitlement reform if you think the problem is that too *many* people can get treated for cancer without it bankrupting them.

So let me get this straight. Government-run health care is BAD. Medicare is GOOD. Except it costs too much and is an entitlement, so it's BAD. But old people love it, so it's GOOD.

The military health system and the VA are completely government-run health care, so they're BAD. Except we have to support the troops, and all the data says the military health system and the VA provide some of the best care in the country, so they're GOOD. But if anyone ever brings them up as models of what govt.-run health care can do, they're BAD.

No wonder it's so hard to keep track of Republican opinions on health care...

Well if being a hypocrite is OK by Republicans then I want knowledge without education, buses without public transportation, health without exercise, and law enforcement without municipal taxes.

And elections without other parties.