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Medical Forum / General / General / February 2006NYT: Bush to Propose Vast Cuts in Medicare
New York Times February 4, 2006 Bush to Propose Curbing Growth in Medicare Cost By ROBERT PEAR WASHINGTON In his budget next week, President Bush will propose substantial savings in Medicare, administration officials and health care lobbyists said Friday. For the first time since taking office five years ago, they said, Mr. Bush will try to reduce projected Medicare payments to hospitals and other health care providers by billions of dollars over the next five years. In addition, they said, Mr. Bush intends to seek further increases in Medicare premiums. The president's 2007 budget also calls for a freeze in Medicare payments to nursing homes and home health agencies. In addition, he proposes to reduce payments for oxygen equipment provided to Medicare beneficiaries. This proposal is likely to touch off protests from a coalition of patients and oxygen suppliers. The coalition has been running television commercials against a powerful California congressman who has supported such changes. In one commercial, an Air Force veteran, with an oxygen tube in his nose, asks the congressman, Representative Bill Thomas: "I was proud to fight for my country. Why are you not willing to fight for me?".... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bush to seek $120 billion more for war In his state of the union address he talked of the importance of education. Then in with a tie vote Cheney cuts education. Another read my lips lie from the Bush family. February 01. 2006 8:00AM T he bill the U.S. Senate passed in the last hours of its 2005 session is called a "budget reconciliation" - an attempt to force the federal budget into balance with spending cuts or tax increases. But there's no way to reconcile one of the biggest items on the chopping block, aid to education, with the long-term interests of the nation, its students, families and economy. The bill includes a $12.7 billion cut in federal aid to education. The Senate passed it 51-50 with Vice President Dick Cheney casting the deciding vote. The cut, the first in federal education spending in more than a decade, accounts for nearly a third of the bill's spending reductions. A clear and present danger to America By DOUG THOMPSON Publisher, Capitol Hill Blue George W. Bush, the out-of-control despot who thinks the Presidency of the United States is a license to lie at will, wage war on a whim and break the law without recrimination, put on his "I am in charge" face Thursday and, for all practical purposes, told anyone who thinks his powers should be subject to review or oversight to go screw themselves. Bush told reporters that he will assert his "presidential prerogatives" any damn way he pleases and will do so without apology, without question and without concern for the law, the Constitution or the rights of Americans. His press conference was a frightening study of a madman on a tear, an insane, power-mad tyrant who believes he is above the law and cannot be questioned. Sadly, it appears no one has the balls to questions his lunacy. "I'm going to continue do everything within my authority to protect the American people," Bush told reporters. That's Bushspeak for "I'm in charge here you dumb pukes and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it." "We'll continue our terrorist surveillance program against al Qaeda. Congress must reauthorize the Patriot Act so that our law enforcement and intelligence and homeland security officers have the tools they need to route the terrorists -- terrorists who could be planning and plotting within our borders," he said. Translation: "I'll spy on Americans, I'm use the Constitution to wipe my a.s and I'll declare marital law and run this country like the dictator I want so desperately to be." On his illegal actions authorizing the National Security Agency to spy on Americans, Bush said "If the attempt to write law ...is likely to expose the nature of the program, I'll resist it." What he is saying is "I'm above the law, goddamnit, and I'll fight every attempt to make me obey the law. On the Iraq war, Bush declared: "there is an act passed by Congress in 2001 which said that I must have the power to conduct this war using the incidents of war. In other words, we believe there's a constitutional power granted to Presidents, as well as, this case, a statutory power. And I'm intending to use that power -- Congress says, go ahead and conduct the war, we're not going to tell you how to do it." I worked on Capitol Hill for a number of years and wrote more than my share of legislation. I know a thing or two about how the government is designed to work and the checks and balances that are supposed to be built into the system. I've also read what Congress passed and nothing in that act or the Constitution gives Bush the authority he claims or the power he abuses. He's not just a liar. He's a god-damned liar. The arrogance surfaced often as he faced the press. His eyes darted from side to side, blinking rapidly - a textbook example of a maniac on the loose. His temper threatened to erupt more than once because a couple of reporters actually had the gall to actually question his motives. After too many years watching this man destroy what once was a great nation, I can only conclude that Bush is insane and his insanity is protected by a brain-dead populace and a power-mad political party that can't possibly accept the sad fact that they helped put a madman in charge of our government and have kept him there. I believe with all my soul that George W. Bush and the Republicans who rubber-stamp his actions represent a clear and present danger to the peace and security of the United States and all must be removed from office immediately if this nation is to survive. And those are words I never, ever, thought I'd write about a President or other elected officials of this country. And I wish, with all my heart that I did not have to write them now. But those who love this country and put patriotism above politics must act. America, if it wishes to remain America, must remove the cancer that threatens to destroy it. February 04, 2006 Drug program puts added stress on Social Security Backlog of cases grows, services starting to suffer, internal e-mail says Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar / Los Angeles Times WASHINGTON -- Social Security has been so overwhelmed helping seniors cope with the new Medicare drug program that other services are starting to suffer, a senior government official said in an internal e-mail released Friday. A large backlog of cases is getting worse, and the agency is cutting cut back on audits that save the government money. "It's not a rosy picture, and the news doesn't get better," Deputy Commissioner for Operations Linda S. McMahon wrote agency employees. The agency is scrounging for money to pay overtime, McMahon said, and will have to cut back on other priorities, though monthly retirement checks for 48 million Social Security beneficiaries will not be affected. "I won't try to kid you," McMahon wrote employees. "This is going to be a very difficult year." On some days, about one in three callers to Social Security's 800 number has been getting a busy signal, she explained. The agency's 1,300 local offices have been getting as many as 60,000 extra visitors a day -- a 40 percent increase from last fall. McMahon's Jan. 21 e-mail was released by Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif. His office said it first verified the authenticity of the message, which is captioned "Difficult Times." Waxman called for immediate congressional action to restore a recently enacted cut of nearly $200 million in Social Security's administrative budget. "The problems faced by the Medicare program in implementing the benefit are spilling over and having significant impacts on the Social Security program," he said. McMahon testified on Thursday before the Senate Aging Committee about her agency's effort to assist Medicare with financial subsidies for low-income seniors called "extra help." More than 4 million people have applied for the aid, but only about 1.4 million qualified. In her testimony, McMahon did not recite the litany of problems detailed in her e-mail. Instead, she thanked Congress for "providing (Social Security) with the resources we have needed to begin this challenging process." In a statement issued Friday, the agency said: "As the Social Security Administration handles the increased phone calls and office visits associated with the new Medicare prescription drug program, we continue to provide (financial) benefits and assistance with timeliness and professionalism. As always, we remain dedicated to providing the best possible service to the American people." While jammed phone lines at Medicare offices and at those of the private insurance plans administering the drug benefit have been widely reported, problems at Social Security have largely gone unnoticed. In her e-mail, McMahon noted that some employees had warned that the agency would run into trouble trying to juggle its regular duties and the added task of helping seniors enroll for the complex prescription program. "Those of you on the front line have been expressing your deep concern that (Social Security) is not positioned well to help people understand, enroll in and negotiate" the Medicare drug program, she wrote. "Now we are seeing the consequence of that fact. Our national 800 number network has been overwhelmed for weeks. . ." Although the law that created the Medicare drug benefit provided extra funding for Social Security in 2004 and 2005, it earmarked no funds for this year, when the agency is facing its largest burdens, Waxman said. Instead, Congress cut the agency's administrative budget from $9.3 billion in 2005 to $9.1 billion in 2006. To free up staff, the agency has gotten White House permission to cut back on disability reviews, McMahon wrote. The reviews determine whether certain beneficiaries still qualify to receive monthly assistance. Such audits save the government money. "Bush to Propose Vast Cuts in Medicare. Drug program puts added stress on Social Security, Services starting to suffer. 65 percent denial rate." ~ Cymbal Man Freq "That is WRONG. Is there anything we can do to help ~ ?" ~ Twittering LSTOO & Folly IAG "Bush to Propose Vast Cuts in Medicare. Drug program puts added stress on Social Security, Services starting to suffer. 65 percent denial rate. Bush to seek $120 billion more for war " ~ WK "That is WRONG. Is there anything we can do to help ~ ? President Bush, You know all those people in Guantanamo ~ ? They are living in physical and mental HELL. They will likely NEVER resume a NORMAL life. Is your goal to let them die Down there, because they will NEVER recover >From the abuse suffered Under those conditions ~ ? Makes sense. NOT." ~ Twittering LSTOO & Folly IAG ... : In one commercial, an Air Force veteran, with an oxygen tube in his : nose, asks the congressman, Representative Bill Thomas: "I was proud [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] : : Bush to seek $120 billion more for war EGGXactly!! "Bush to seek $120 billion more for war EGGXactly!!!" ~ Pop "So we send more people to war, More come home injured, We need more healtcare for injured Veterans, We have less funding allocated ~ Is that the way it works ~ ? Or "Consult for the FBI, Abuse Rights @ Home ~ ?" ~ Folly "Folly, Maybe we should just Give Up On Our Issue, because ~ Bigger Badder Fish swim these seas." ~ Twittering "Know, Twittering, KNOW ~ ! Abuse leads to abuse. It's got to STOP somewhere. SOMEONE SOMEWHERE Is accountable." ~ Folly |
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