Michele Bachmann to Glenn Beck: Obama has secret plan to end Medicare
Michele Bachmann was on Glenn Beck鈥檚 radio program the other day and said in effect that President Obama has a secret plan to get rid of Medicare.
The Democratic Party is playing the demagogue on America鈥檚 big senior health-care entitlement program, said Representative Bachmann. Dems are accusing the GOP of undermining Medicare when in fact Republicans are trying to put it on a sound financial footing, said the Minnesota congresswoman. Meanwhile, Mr. Obama is declining to unveil any White House program to deal with Medicare鈥檚 looming deficits, charged the latest entrant into the GOP presidential-nomination sweepstakes.
鈥淗e hasn鈥檛 told senior citizens this, but he鈥檚 going to roll senior[s] ... into Obamacare,鈥� Bachmann said during an on the Beck show.
Furthermore, once they鈥檙e in Medicare, 15 unelected bureaucrats 鈥� the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) 鈥� will be able to determine what health care seniors will be able to get. That鈥檚 what Bachmann told Mr. Beck, anyway.
He鈥檚 鈥済oing to pull the rug out from under them by just doing away with Medicare and forcing them into Obamacare where this unelected board will be saying no to their medical procedures. The American people don鈥檛 know that. Obama hasn鈥檛 told them,鈥� said Bachmann.
What鈥檚 she talking about here? We鈥檙e not entirely sure, but we鈥檒l take a stab at interpreting. Bachmann thinks Obama will wait for the current Medicare fee-for-service entitlement to collapse because of rising costs. Then he鈥檒l reconstitute the program as a system in which seniors get government assistance to buy private insurance packages through state health-care exchanges.
(Wait a minute: Isn鈥檛 that what GOP Rep. Paul Ryan鈥檚 much-discussed Medicare plan would do? Yes, sort of. But Bachmann has edged away from the Ryan plan, remember.)
And the 鈥渦nelected board鈥� thing? Well, the IPAB was set up by Obama鈥檚 health reform bill to help control Medicare costs. Beginning in 2014, if prices rise too fast, it鈥檚 supposed to submit to Congress ideas to cap the price rise. If Congress does not act on the ideas, they can go into effect anyway.
For what it鈥檚 worth, the law says that the board鈥檚 recommendations can鈥檛 ration care or increase costs for Medicare recipients.
But if the IPAB is part of Medicare, and Obama plans to end Medicare, would the board still exist after that happened? Details, details.
Yet the larger point here does not depend on unpacking the details: As a presidential candidate, Bachmann looks like she is going to be the fiercest anti-Obamacare choice. She鈥檚 tough, she鈥檚 articulate, and she talks faster than Sarah Palin.
The administration鈥檚 health-care reforms remain a huge issue with tea party adherents, and that the nation as a whole remains almost evenly split on the issue. In that context, it will be interesting to see how Bachmann鈥檚 rhetoric fares.
