Missed the Vice President Debate? Where to Watch the Medicare Excerpt
Earlier this month, Kaiser Health News posted a clip of the presidential candidates debating their Medicare plans. Now that their running mates, Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan, have gone head-to-head, a similar clip is up from their debate.
The video starts with each of the men talking about his ticket’s plan and criticizing the other’s. Here’s an excerpt of how Ryan sums up his, which he says would only apply to people who are currently younger than 55:
Give younger people, when they become Medicare-eligible, guaranteed coverage options that you can’t be denied, including traditional Medicare.
Choose your plan, and then Medicare subsidizes your premiums, not as much for the wealthy people, more coverage for middle-income people and total out-of-pocket coverage for the poor and the sick. Choice and competition — we would rather have 50 million future seniors determine how their Medicare is delivered to them instead of 15 bureaucrats deciding what — if, where, when they get it.
And here’s part of how Biden’s sums up his ticket’s position:
What we did is we saved $716 billion and put it back — applied it to Medicare. We cut the cost of Medicare. We stopped overpaying insurance companies when doctors and hospitals — the AMA supported what we did. AARP endorsed what we did. And it extends the life of Medicare to 2024. They want to wipe this all out. It also gave more benefits. Any senior out there, ask yourself: Do you have more benefits today? You do. If you’re near the doughnut hole, you have $600 more to help your prescription drug costs. You get wellness visits without copays.
Kaiser Health News also has a transcript of the video on the same page, which is where these quotes were taken from.
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Leigh Ann Otte is a freelance writer who specializes in health and aging issues. She covers finding and paying for senior care for OurParents. If you have any questions about this post or need help finding senior-care options for a loved one, call 1-866-483-4896 to speak with a care advisor in your area.
