Ryan’s proposal is a dangerous prescription
Lost in the passionate debate on President Obama’s health care reform initiative is that Congressman Paul Ryan has introduced his own plan.
Unfortunately, Ryan’s plan (H.R. 2520) will make the health care crisis even worse by shifting more power away from patients and to the health insurance industry. Ryan would give insurance companies even more latitude to discriminate based on age, gender and preexisting conditions, and to profit from selling policies with gaping holes that leave consumers vulnerable to claim and treatment denials.
The first feature of Ryan’s plan is to tax health insurance benefits. This is a radical departure from the policy of the United States since World War II of using the tax code to encourage employers to provide health insurance to their workers. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concludes that millions of American will lose their health insurance at work if benefits are taxed, and the Economic Policy Institute estimates that 415,000 Wisconsinites would lose their coverage.
Ryan’s plan also provides tax credits of $2,290 for individuals and $5,710 for families to help them buy insurance on their own. These amounts are grossly inadequate, as the average cost for group health insurance in Wisconsin is now $13,559 for family coverage and $4,916 for individual coverage.
By forcing millions of people who now get their health insurance at work to buy it on their own, Ryan gives the insurance industry greater power to skim off the most profitable individuals, and to charge discriminatory rates to everyone else for barebones policies that expose them to potentially bankrupting costs and treatment denials.
Ryan asserts that his plan will limit insurance industry abuses. Unfortunately, the regulations Ryan suggests are left to the voluntary actions of each state. Even worse, Ryan’s plan actually prohibits limitations on premiums, co-pays, deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses. Insurance companies will be free to price anyone out of the market that they consider a bad risk. Ryan proposes no meaningful coverage standards, so insurance companies can continue to sell policies with dangerous coverage gaps.
Ryan’s health care plan also eliminates Medicaid coverage for low-income seniors and forces low-income families currently on Medicaid to go out and buy health insurance on the private insurance market.
The whole thrust of Ryan’s plan is to give the health insurance industry more power to decide how much to charge, what medical services will be covered, and what co-pays, deductibles and benefit caps will apply to each individual or family. The deciding factor in all of these decisions will be profits, not the health care needs of most Americans.
It is no surprise that, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, Ryan’s largest political contributor is the health insurance industry, which has given him $493,000. It is fair to ask: is Paul Ryan representing the people of southern Wisconsin or the health insurance industry?
Robert Kraig is program director for Citizen Action of Wisconsin, a grassroots organization with 90,000 members that advocates for health care reform. Address: 221 S. 2nd St. Suite 400, Milwaukee, WI 53204; phone (414) 476-4550; e-mail robert.kraig@citizenactionwi.org.
Sep 2, 2009 at 1:59 p.m.
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I`m actually surprised that Ryan did not include the Medicare revision in this bill that was in his alternative budget that was shot down. Under that bill, people on Medicare would have gotten vouchers to buy private insurance, killing Medicare. Also when the Republicans spin the savings of $500 billion in waste, fraud and abuse, in the Medicare system as a cut to benefits, why isn`t it a cut when Ryan cites the same figure in his health plan?
Sep 2, 2009 at 9:48 a.m.
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No teeth in the plan, states and insurance companies do not have to participate. Insurance companies can still raise premiums to whatever they want, for no reason. Premiums are rising faster than health costs, and that is hard to do!
Sep 1, 2009 at 8:22 p.m.
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alliebaba;He has received almost 100 thousand dollars in donations (bribes) from insurance company lobbyists. ----- Is this a lot? Considering he has over 1.2 million in his re election fund - using YOUR number, he received less than 10% from insurance. Have you checked how much "your guy" got from unions, lawyers & yes even insurance co's.
Sep 1, 2009 at 8:05 p.m.
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MikeF; I felt it was relevant to point out it was an op-ed piece - even though it says that in the corner I understand that but being people like you seem to just grab the glass & start gulping the kool-aid - I figured I would point it out for you. While I'm at it would you like me to hold the cup as well?
I simply encouraged readers to actually read for themselves what his bill actually says - not what you think it says. It is apparent you did not use the link I provided because everyone of your questions were answered before you even asked them.
Here it is again for your review - please actually read it & then get back to us, I know I cant wait to see what you have next.
http://www.house.gov/ryan/PCA/PCA.QA.htm...
Sep 1, 2009 at 6:15 p.m.
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Support HR 676 tell Paul Ryan to stop putting profits before patients. Get out there and talk about putting single payer on the table. Private Health Insurance is like a hospital gown. Chances are your a$$ ain't covered.
I sure as heck didn't vote for Ryan.
Sep 1, 2009 at 6:13 p.m.
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www.singlepayeraction.org
Sep 1, 2009 at 4:58 p.m.
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Those of you against Ryan will be in for a real surprise in the future. Just wait and see. I will then laugh at all of you.
Sep 1, 2009 at 3:03 p.m.
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It says something for the people commenting when you cant even spell a name right that is at the top of the page. Im not the spelling police and god knows I misspell but if you are talking about a persons name that is right under the headline - spell it right!
Sep 1, 2009 at 2:44 p.m.
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If Ryan has shown the country he is a joke, then the current legislation making it's way through Congress could only be considered the entire comedy show!!! $1.6 trillion in costs before you factor in the corruption and fraud which ALWAYS finds a way to run rampant through government "programs"..........It seriously would be funny if it wasn't our money they were flushing away......
Sep 1, 2009 at 2:34 p.m.
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tireofhearingit- You are absolutely correct that this an Op-Ed piece and NOT NEWS. That is why, if you will look at the top of the page, right above the headline, you will see a dark shaded bar and on the line above that "OPINION" is shaded. That is standard internet web page design showing you that this is posted in the OPINION area of the website and not the NEWS, WEATHER, SPORTS, etc areas.
Now onto the rest of your post. Do you deny that Ryan's plan taxes insurance benefits? Do you deny that it offers a tax credit of about half the cost of a group policy? Do you deny that individual policies are more restrictive and prone to denial than group policies? Do you deny that the average American worker will pay more and get less under Ryan's plan?
Sep 1, 2009 at 2:25 p.m.
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I recall Mr. Ryan standing on national television with John Boehner and Eric Cantor presenting their budget for America in which the only numbers were the 19 page numbers. Mr. Ryan has shown the entire country that he is nothing but a joke, and a bad one at that.
Sep 1, 2009 at 2:15 p.m.
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Thank you, Robert Craig, for stating the obvious. Just ONCE I wish Ryan would represent his constituents best interests. But, given his track record, wishing it so is just a complete waste of time...time far better served working to elect someone else.
Sep 1, 2009 at 1:53 p.m.
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Social Security is going broke! [ Our government spent the withholding ]
Medicare/Medicaide is in much worse shape, unsustainable without revision.
Add 50 million more people, with no more doctors, rationing would be inevitable! And our government is to pay for this?
The national debt is staggering, and getting even worse without socialized medicine.
Does one honestly think it can be done? Get real!
Ryan's plan is a start. Lets work from there.
Aug 31, 2009 at 6:25 p.m.
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Why is it when the left try to vilify an opponent they always distort the money trail? Kraig’s comment on donations to Ryan, are over his entire career yet that part is left out. During the same time period Rep Obey has received over 1 million from labor unions and more than half a million from health care professionals…those numbers are not provided because Kraig agrees with Obey. He also left out during that same time the legal community has donated 3/4 of a billion dollars in campaign dollars, to stop tort reform, but this is also ignored.
Aug 31, 2009 at 5:43 p.m.
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here's a link;
http://www.house.gov/ryan/healthcare/ind...
Aug 31, 2009 at 5:38 p.m.
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This is an absolute Op-Ed piece - NOT NEWS. I would ecourage Robert & all of you to actually read Paul Ryans plan; The Patients Choice act. There is even a Q&A section that addresses everyone of these points.
Aug 31, 2009 at 5:13 p.m.
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Health care "crisis"? ROTFLMAO!
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