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Friday, October 5, 2012

Medicare Part D - A Republican Plan - Has Been Very Successful



Medicare Part D: A Republican Success Story


In Tuesday's presidential debate, Mitt Romney said 'government does nothing as well as the private sector.'

Judging from Mr. Romney's incessant flip-flopping -- most recently manifest by renunciation of his 47% comment -- Mitt believes very little of what he says. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/does-medicart-part-d-make-the-case-for-paul-ryans-plan/2011/05/19/AGfPbyLH_blog.html

He certainly does not believe that the private sector is always more efficient than the public sector. 

No Republican -- not one! -- contends that Washington's largest budgetary outlay -- military defense -- would be better handled by the private sector. 

However, it is not my present intention to spotlight Mr. Romney's flip-floppy falsehood.

Rather, it is my present intention to praise The Republican Party.

In addition to the obvious instance of government-operated Defense providing better military service than private-sector “armies," consider The Republican Party's Medicare Part D Drug Benefit

Although it pains my partisan heart to admit that this Republican-sponsored program has been successful – indeed, wildly successful – “the facts are the facts.” (I realize this epistemological premise -- originally "settled" by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century -- will be hotly debated by all Republicans.) 

As a result of Medicare Part D, the entire healthcare system -- providers and beneficiaries alike – has benefited from strikingly cost-effective efficiencies ever since the Republican program was put in place. http://www.phrma.org/issues/medicare  

In similar vein, the factual record is equally clear on another front. 

Private medical insurance -- as a means for achieving universal care -- has been an abject failure. 

Alternatively, Medicare -- despite its inefficiencies (and physician-driven abuse) -- provides cost-effective, high-quality care that encompasses tens of millions of Americans who would have been jettisoned to the jaws of Social Darwinism if their fate lay in the hands of private insurance companies.

Currently, I am accepting all “even money” bets offered by naysayers who contend Obamacare will increase per patient cost while also diminishing health “outcomes.” 

Health outcomes will not diminish significantly - and are likely to go up judging by other developed nations with significant government involvement in healthcare - and per patient cost will decline significantly. 

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(I do not argue that the Republican-sponsored drug plan is optimum.  Clearly, government can do an even better job than both the private sector and the government program currently in place. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/does-medicart-part-d-make-the-case-for-paul-ryans-plan/2011/05/19/AGfPbyLH_blog.html)



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