Obama Fiscal Policy

The GOP / Rep. Ryan deficit reduction plan is mere cynical BS. The Obama plan is more
realistic, but it still falls far short of adequately bracing the public for the hard road ahead
vis a vis entitlements and especially Medicare and Medicaid. As the Boomers age, the volume of
medical services will rise and fees seem likely to continue to exceed the inflation rate. With no
national economic growth strategy in place, it is likely that medical entitlements payout will
grow faster than the overall revenue take, forcing a continuous re-jiggering of budget priorities.
The medical insurance system provides precious little incentive to search out ways to improve
dramatically the productivity and efficiency of health services delivery.

So, you can ultimately abandon Medicare / Medicaid or retain it with rigorous cost containment
measures which ultimately force providers to increase productivity to maintain profitability and
allows the recalcitrants to try to compete in the limited market of those who can afford the full freight. The Obama failing on this round was not to confront the public regarding the longer term limitations of the health entitlement programs.

It may be true as some believe that medicine has a shallow learning curve, that time and
technological development will not provide substantially faster, better and cheaper service. Well,
it should be out in the open and everyone should have a say on how best to meet the demands
of an extraordinary period ahead, as the Boomers shuffle along into the sunset.

People have paid tax dollars into these programs and commitments have been made. High time to
open up the issue to everyone and not keep it under political wraps.