Hasta La Gadget!

I don’t know about you but I’m getting really tired of the hysteria over this so-called, somewhat media created, “fiscal cliff” thing. The White House called the Republican’s latest proposal “fairy dust.” But I do think we are in for some changes in health care as a result of the discussions going on in Washington DC, so I thought you should know what to expect.

First, try to ignore the hysteria. Whatever laws will expire December 31, there will be a solution and at some point we will need to restructure and reform some of our government programs. Which ones? Probably Medicare. Maybe Medicaid. And at some point, although certainly not urgent now – Social Security. The Republicans want you to think that without “entitlement reform”, we cannot reach a deal on the so-called fiscal cliff.

But step back for a moment. We call Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security “entitlements” although this term does recall something akin to Romney’s 47% idea. Perhaps we should rename these programs. Does everyone who depends on these programs think they are somehow “entitled” to something they don’t deserve? We pay into Social Security. We pay for Medicare – and don’t you think we do not. ( Medicare Part A may be without premium, but Medicare Parts B and D extract significant premiums from beneficiaries, and the more you make the more you pay for these “entitlements”. ) Don’t even get me started on why we need to attack these programs and gut them. They protect some of the most vulnerable disabled and elderly among us. If you had to look these folks in the eye and tell them they were taking too much and not giving enough back – good luck if they could reach out and punch you.

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