Republicans want to end Medicare as we know it--abolishing the guaranteed health care benefits seniors depend on. Republicans hope to turn it into a voucher program--burdening seniors with additional costs and putting more money into pockets of insurance companies. According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities:
In 2022 (when the voucher system would go into effect), total spending attr
ibutable to a 65-year-old Medicare beneficiary would rise from $14,700 to $20,500, or almost 40 percent. And this beneficiary's out-of-pocket costs would more than double, from about $6,000 a year to over $12,000. These differences would grow even larger in later years, because the value of the voucher would not keep pace with the growth of health care costs. Additionally, the Republican plan would no longer guarantee the same quality of health benefits and choice of doctors that seniors currently have under Medicare. It also rescinds the fix made under the Affordable Care Act to Medicare prescription drug gap, known as the "donut hole," turning back the clock on the progress made to help seniors cover rising drug costs.
