WASHINGTON - Economists, medical care providers and consumer advocates have roundly criticized Republicans’ plan to dismantle Medicare. Some key quotes:
ECONOMISTS
“[T]urning Medicare into a voucher program would undermine essential protections for millions of vulnerable people. It would extinguish the most promising approaches to curb costs and to improve the American medical care system."
-192 Economists/Health policy experts TODAY in letter to House and Senate leaders
“Although the Ryan-Rivlin and House Budget Committee plans are called “premium support," they actually jettison all or most of the consumer protections that distinguish premium support from bare vouchers."
-Henry Aaron, Brookings Institution
“We talked fairly recently and I said, “You know, I can’t support the version you have in the budget. … We had worked together but the version that is in the budget resolution is not one that I would subscribe to."
-Alice Rivlin, who sat on the President's Fiscal Commission with Ryan and together co-authored the Rivlin-Ryan Plan to address health care spending.
PROVIDERS
“[A]ction to mitigate our fiscal challenges should not weaken health care for our seniors or the already fragile health care safety net for our most vulnerable citizens."
- Federation of American Hospitals
“In communities across America, hospitals provide the most sophisticated and advanced health care in the world to our patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Unfortunately, our ability to keep that promise to the elderly, poor and disabled could be seriously challenged by the resolution adopted by the House Budget Committee."
- American Hospital Association
“The draconian cuts proposed in the budget resolution would simply shift the cost burden onto individual beneficiaries, health care providers and state governments."
-- Catholic Health Association of the United States
CONSUMER ADVOCATES
“Destroying Medicare and leaving millions of Americans without adequate health coverage is not a path to prosperity for anyone except for-profit insurers and the American people understand that."
- National Committee to Preserve and Protect Social Security
“[Ryan’s] proposal, rather than tackling skyrocketing health care costs, would simply shift these costs onto the backs of people in Medicare."
- AARP
“The Ryan budget proposal represents an assault on America’s seniors…."
- National Council on Aging
“The math of the proposed House budget, introduced today by Budget Committee Chairman Ryan, is really quite simple-Medicare consumers (those over 65 and people with disabilities) pay more for health care and the federal government pays a lot less."
- Medicare Rights Center
