Friday, May 6, 2011

Upon Further review, Ryan’s Medicare Voucher plan means if you’re under 55, you need $182,000 extra.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research went under the hood on Paul Ryan’s "voucher and die" plan.
A 54-year-old today will have to save an additional $182,000 in their IRA or 401(k) before he or she retires just to pay for the House Republican plan to eliminate Medicare, an analysis released today by U.S. D-CA) found. 
Rep. George Miller said, “Under the Republican plan, seniors will go into debt. They will be forced to sell their homes that they spent a lifetime paying off. And they will have to rely on their children just to pay for basic medical care. This is not what anyone would envision as a dignified retirement.”
It’s also the reason why the government had to step in and create the backstop senior health insurance plan, because the private sector wouldn’t.
Last month, House Republicans voted to end the Medicare program. Since the voucher’s value relative to health care costs would decrease over time and private insurance costs are higher than traditional Medicare, seniors retiring in 2022 under the Republican plan would be forced to pay much higher costs than under current law.  
As a result, CEPR found that the average senior beginning in 2022 would have to save $182,000 to cover these additional costs, assuming a return of 3 percent in real interest during their retirement years.  
“Congress needs to make sure Medicare is sustainable for seniors in the future and sustainable for taxpayers. We took a substantial step towards this goal through the Affordable Care Act,” said Miller. 
Approximately half of all workers do not have any retirement savings at all. The Employee Benefits Research Institute estimates that the average retirement savings shortfall was more than $47,000 per individual in 2010.   
Add to that the trend toward lower wages, no benefits, and higher living costs.
That’s the dystopian world vision of the Republican Party. 

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