Rep. Diane Black defends her plan to privatize Medicare, which puts big insurance companies in charge of health care coverage for seniors — a plan that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says will raise out of pocket costs for seniors by more than $6,500 a year.
From the Herald Citizen:
School board member Janet Moore got up to speak about Medicare.
“I think we do have to turn the costs down, but there are other ways to do it rather than eliminating Medicare,” she said. “If the Ryan plan passes, seniors will have to pay more of their health care costs and that’s not a solution. It puts more costs on the backs of seniors.”
Black responded that Medicare is sustainable under the Ryan program and it will be there.
“The program will be in the market…when you put things in the market, it will increase competition and it drives prices down,” Black said.
“Seniors struggle (with the costs of health care,)” Moore said.
“We have got to face the facts — this is simply not sustainable,” Black said.
The Paul Ryan budget plan, which every Tennessee Republican voted for, will raise the out of pocket costs of health care for 1 million Tennessee Medicare enrollees, while at the same time delivering nearly $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, such as Rep. Diane Black.