Greenspan discussed yesterday, on NPR, his concern for medicare expenses as the baby boomers retire?

Question

If this is true, and I suspect it is, how will we afford universal health care

Greenspan went on to say that the only practical solution is to eliminate entitlement programs such as medicare to anyone that can afford it: the wealthy and upper income/asset retired americans.

Montreux your assumption is totally incorrect. Even at 10 billion a month, the war in Iraq is a miniscule amount when compared to Medicare, medicaid, which stand at about 800 BILLION dollars annually, right now. Kick in SS, and it is 1.4 TRILLION dollars annually.

Answer 1

Face it.
My generation is starting to retire and we're over 50% of the work force.
People are living longer.
You are getting stuck with the bill,as well as my kids and their kids.
All these Social programs are very short sighted and only served to get politicians elected.
Where is the money going to come from?
Out of your kids mouths.
Tax the RICH ?
Tax them enough and they move elsewhere.
Tax the retirees?
Same story.
Before any more Social Programs come on line somebody better find a way to finance them.

Answer 2

We could easily 'afford' it. The proof of this is that we afford it now. Someone pays the bills. Sadly, a lot of people pay with their lives. Of course the first thing we have to do is stop calling it UNIVERSAAL HEALTH CARE. The issue is UNIVERSAL HEALTH INSURANCE. 'Care' will remain as it is, the difference is that there will be a rational way to pay for these services. If everyone pays something, then everyone will pay less. Why this is even controversial is a mystery. The concept of insurance, or shared risk, is a 1,000 years old. If the private sector could supply this kind of coverage it would have by now. Since it can't or won't we need to step up and deal with the problem. UNIVERSAL HEALTH INSURANCE would mean that 50 states could eliminate their Medicade programs and Medicare would go the way of the buffalo...even a large part of the VA could be folded into a universal system. Who would lose? The health isurance companies to some extent....but if you can't do the job you SHOULD go out of business. Let's stop getting half the benefits for twice the money.

Answer 3

It is true and Greenspan is exactly right. If you look at the data the US government spends more money on entitlement programs than they have spent on the entire war on terror. The only way to afford universal health care is with new taxes. If universal health care passes, it will cost every person who gets heath insurance from there employer.

Answer 4

Lets see..... How much do we waste a month in Iraq so the troops can be insurgent target practice?

How much of a profit is Haliburton making off of shady contracts?

How much are the oil companies making off of being the middlemen and making us STILL pay almost $3 a gallon for gas, when they just steal it?

Add that wasted money up over the past 4 years, and that's what COULD have been used to fund universal healthcare.

Answer 5

The only problem with excluding people is that those people have paid for medicare throughout their working lives and now we are to tell them thanks but now you can't get the benefit you've paid for for 30 years. Doesn't seem "fair" to me............