(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
DOGE is taking aim at Medicare and Medicaid. We need to unleash the elders! [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-02-06
According to Reuters, DOGE has gained access to Medicare and Medicaid payment systems, and are working with staff, supposedly to uncover fraud and possible staffing cuts.
The old women I know are angry.
It’s a stereotype that Xers, Boomers and the Silent Generation are rabid Trump supporters. While this is true for some, it is definitely NOT true of all of them. Not even close.
When only gender is considered, the voting block that came out strongest for Kamala Harris was….women over 65. They went for Harris by 53%, slightly edging out women 18-44, who went 52% for Harris and women 45-64 who went 48% for Harris.
Men over 45 voted for Harris at 42%. Even so, when you add up all these votes, that’s a lot of older folks who voted against Trump.
Meanwhile there are 67 million Medicare recipients.
About 80 million people are enrolled in Medicaid—around 7% of them children.
All of this costs a lot, and costs are expected to rise.
In 2023, Medicare cost $839 billion, and Medicaid cost the feds 592 billion.
Medicare costs are ballooning, in part because of Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage), which is a huge cash cow for big private insurance companies (an important story but one for another diary.)
As AOC explains in her video about what is happening and why, DOGE is desperate to cut the federal budget, and these health expenditures (along with ACA expenditures) are a huge percentage of total expenditures.
There are ways our country could save big on medical expenses without cutting services (AKA Medicare for All) but a careful rollout would be required in order to insure a soft landing for the economy due to how much of a shift this would represent.
Trump and his minions want violent protests so they can declare martial law. They are not expecting a bunch of well organized old people showing up with petitions and calling them nonstop.
We need to unleash the elders. NOW.
EDIT: Folks have suggested I need to report actual cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. The opening volley in the Republican budget bill is $2.3 Trillion cuts in Medicaid (over 10 years) and changes to the ACA.
Proposed cuts to Medicare would reduce payments to doctors.
Their budget proposal was also a proposal to raise costs on Medicare for seniors.
Project 20205 would increase Medicare costs for Seniors.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/6/2301842/-DOGE-is-taking-aim-at-Medicare-and-Medicaid-We-need-to-unleash-the-elders?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
