Who's right on Medicare Reform? (Hint: Paul Ryan!)

I'm lazy today, plus I can't make these points better than Mish can.

From Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis blog:
"Who’s Right on Medicare Reform, Ryan and Rivlin or Obama and Gingrich? Cato Institute Praises Paul Ryan's Medicare Voucher Proposal"
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/05/whos-right-on-medicare-reform-ryan-and.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MishsGlobalEconomicTrendAnalysis+%28Mish%27s+Global+Economic+Trend+Analysis%29


Here is more material, from Paul Ryan and the House Budget Committee:
"The Path to Prosperity (Episode 1): America's two futures, visualized"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwv5EbxXSmE

"How will we do it? We will cut spending."

"Washington has NOT been telling you the truth. If we don't reform spending on government health and retirement programs We have zero hope of getting our spending, and as a result our debt crisis, under control."


"The Path to Prosperity (Episode 2): Saving Medicare, Visualized"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJIC7kEq6kw

The full script of the video can be found here:
"The Facts on Medicare and How to Save It"
http://budget.house.gov/fy2012budget/medicare.htm

"Washington has not been honest with you about Medicare."

"Here’s how it works: A Medicare patient goes to the doctor and receives health care services. The doctor sends the bill for these services to Medicare, and Medicare reimburses the doctor -- with your tax dollars and borrowed money -- no questions asked."

"This system increases costs and decreases quality for two reasons: ... First ... the patient is very disconnected from the cost. ... the true cost is hidden from the Medicare patient because someone else pays the actual bill. When we pay directly for something, and we know how much it costs, we have a strong incentive to demand the best value. In health care, we don’t."

"The second reason costs are going up and quality is going down is that fee-for-service Medicare insurance has no competition -- so it reimburses all doctors and hospitals the same, even if the quality of the care they provide is poor, and the cost of their care is high. Meaning that there is little financial incentive for doctors and hospitals to deliver the best care at the lowest price."

"The urgent need to reform Medicare and the President’s misguided approach have left us with a serious question to ask: Who should be making health-care decisions for you and your family?
A government monopoly and a panel of bureaucrats in Washington DC? Or you?"


More source material is here, at the House Budget Committee website.
http://budget.house.gov/fy2012budget/