Medicare on the ropes.

When I read this morning’s article by Mike Deak that emphasized the funding threat that faces home health care services such as those provided by the VNA of Somerset County (Visiting Nurses Association), I was appalled.

 

But it was no surprise.

When the Affordable Care Act was signed into law by President Barack Obama, Medicare became one of its first victims.

The Congressional Budget Office issued a report estimating that passage of the ACA would result in from $500 billion to $716 billion that would be drained from Medicare in the years between 2013 and 2022 to help fund the Affordable Care Act.

To further add to Medicare’s pain, the Society for Human Resources reports that the employee payroll tax that was recently increased has seen part of that hike diverted from Medicare in order to fund the already-in-trouble ACA, Obama’s health care brainchild.

But it gets worse:

The GOP has now joined the fray and is moving in the same direction as are the Democrats in eviscerating Medicare:  The Republican House of Representatives has proposed a 2016 budget that turns Medicare into a voucher system by “partially privatizing” it.

We have gone full circle – a Republican version of the Affordable Care Act for seniors!

There is a reason that New Jersey Rep. Leonard Lance (R) wants to help insure that no more cuts to Medicare are made that would affect organizations like the VNA:

  

The multi-billion-dollar, machete-like cuts to Medicare already in play to support “Obamacare” as outlined in the CBO report already include $122 billion in reduced funding for skilled nursing services, hospice services, and home health services.

Those cuts are further aggravated by $260 billion in Medicare reductions for hospital services.

Thanks for checking in.  Don’t forget:  take good care of your mind and body.