Employee health care premiums increased 260% last decade

[the_poochies]

Dakota wrote:
What is this $500 billion dollars in Medicare waste Baucus is promising to cut?

That's a good point, but what I think you would get from Medicare is far better transparency than what we presently see with private insurers, who hide behind "trade secrets."

Medicare/Medicaid payments to the states have been declining for 30+ years. I would wager that the states that are experiencing historically catastrophic budget shortfalls could trace the roots of these shortfalls to their compensation to hospitals for losses in Medicare/Medicaid funds from the feds.

When a hospital shuts its doors in my state, usually the outgoing CEO will cite decreased Medicare/Medicaid payments as a significant factor in the closure (but blaming illegal aliens attracts better headlines and requires less footwork from a compliant news media).