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neonvincentAnother article about Ben Carson and Michigan.
The doctor was in Washtenaw County as Ben Carson talked health care
Detroit native Dr. Ben Carson returned to his home state on Wednesday, December 9, making three stops in Washtenaw County. He began his day by touring the University of Michigan Medical School. Carson then attended a fund-raising luncheon in Ypsilanti. He finished his day speaking at the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center for the “We the People Town Hall.”
As befitting one of the two doctors campaigning for the Republican nomination for President, the other being Rand Paul, Carson spoke about his ideas for health care. Those include replacing the Affordable Care Act with what he called "Health Empowerment Accounts," overhauling Medicaid, and raising the age of eligiblity for Medicare to 70.
"We spend, in this country, twice as much per capita on health care than many other countries in the world, and we have terrible access problems. This is meant to really get rid of that. These empowerment accounts will be funded by the same dollars we use to fund everything today," Carson said to the town hall at EMU as quoted by MLive.
Carson's empowerment accounts would be set up by the government for each American when they are born. The accounts would be tax-sheltered and could be moved whenever the person moves from state to state. Carson's intent for these accounts is that they would promote patient choice and increase competition between private insurers. Funds from these accounts could also be shared within families.
"If dad is $500 short for a procedure, mom could give it to him out of hers, or son, or cousin, or grandmother, or anybody in the family. Gives you enormous flexibility," said Carson as quoted by Michigan Radio.
Carson's privatization plans extended to Medicare and Medicaid. In addition to raising the eligiblity age, Carson suggested giving Medicare recipients a fixed amount from the government to buy an insurance plan on the private market. Theoretically, this would give senior citizens more choice while allowing Medicare to continue. Democrats have derided similar proposals as voucher plans that would eventually kill Medicare.
“In terms of Medicare, we want people to have choices,” Carson was quoted by the Eastern Echo. “We don't want to have a bunch of bureaucrats dictating to people what they have to do. A lot of people get very nervous when you say anything about changing Medicare because it's become a way of life. But this is going to be so much superior to what was there already.”
Carson's ideas for Medicaid include providing low-income people with government-funded major medical accounts along with seed money for their own empowerment accounts. This would eliminate doctors not accepting Medicaid payments because the reimbursement rates are too low. "For once, they will have equal access to the same doctors and hospitals as the rest of us," Carson was quoted by Michigan Radio.
A quote of Carson from the Eastern Echo summed up his rationale for his health policy proposals. Carson wrote “A lifetime in medicine taught me that the best health care decisions are made between patient and doctor. As decision-making moves further away from patients and providers, the medical outcomes become less effective.”
The doctor was in Washtenaw County as Ben Carson talked health care
Detroit native Dr. Ben Carson returned to his home state on Wednesday, December 9, making three stops in Washtenaw County. He began his day by touring the University of Michigan Medical School. Carson then attended a fund-raising luncheon in Ypsilanti. He finished his day speaking at the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center for the “We the People Town Hall.”
As befitting one of the two doctors campaigning for the Republican nomination for President, the other being Rand Paul, Carson spoke about his ideas for health care. Those include replacing the Affordable Care Act with what he called "Health Empowerment Accounts," overhauling Medicaid, and raising the age of eligiblity for Medicare to 70.
"We spend, in this country, twice as much per capita on health care than many other countries in the world, and we have terrible access problems. This is meant to really get rid of that. These empowerment accounts will be funded by the same dollars we use to fund everything today," Carson said to the town hall at EMU as quoted by MLive.
Carson's empowerment accounts would be set up by the government for each American when they are born. The accounts would be tax-sheltered and could be moved whenever the person moves from state to state. Carson's intent for these accounts is that they would promote patient choice and increase competition between private insurers. Funds from these accounts could also be shared within families.
"If dad is $500 short for a procedure, mom could give it to him out of hers, or son, or cousin, or grandmother, or anybody in the family. Gives you enormous flexibility," said Carson as quoted by Michigan Radio.
Carson's privatization plans extended to Medicare and Medicaid. In addition to raising the eligiblity age, Carson suggested giving Medicare recipients a fixed amount from the government to buy an insurance plan on the private market. Theoretically, this would give senior citizens more choice while allowing Medicare to continue. Democrats have derided similar proposals as voucher plans that would eventually kill Medicare.
“In terms of Medicare, we want people to have choices,” Carson was quoted by the Eastern Echo. “We don't want to have a bunch of bureaucrats dictating to people what they have to do. A lot of people get very nervous when you say anything about changing Medicare because it's become a way of life. But this is going to be so much superior to what was there already.”
Carson's ideas for Medicaid include providing low-income people with government-funded major medical accounts along with seed money for their own empowerment accounts. This would eliminate doctors not accepting Medicaid payments because the reimbursement rates are too low. "For once, they will have equal access to the same doctors and hospitals as the rest of us," Carson was quoted by Michigan Radio.
A quote of Carson from the Eastern Echo summed up his rationale for his health policy proposals. Carson wrote “A lifetime in medicine taught me that the best health care decisions are made between patient and doctor. As decision-making moves further away from patients and providers, the medical outcomes become less effective.”
