Does any one know what comes with a voucher program? I am curious and perhaps don't understand what would be so great to have a voucher program. I see there are other voucher programs such as the Pell grant...That might not be so bad but I don't know where we stand on that. Then there are the food stamps and I see where the taxpayers are getting raped on that by those that abuse the program but benificial for those that legitamently comply and need the program.

So my questions are:

1.Will evaluations have to be done on each individuals medical requirements. (Or presume that everyone has the same medical needs) before recieving vouchers.

2. What about individual income requirements. Many will be lying about thier actual income in order to to enable them to get more benifts. (Similar to the food stamp program).

3. What about the guidelines for each individual state. Will all states recieve the same or will each individual state decide based on thier state of wealth what thier residents will recieve?

We are bemused to the Ryan choice. Now Mitt has to fight on 3 fronts. First the economy; second the Ryan Plan, and third the $24 trillion deficit the Ryan plan envisions down the road.

In a three front war Romney will lose.

The TEA Party is unlikely to embrace a $24 trillion deficit After all these are the very people who nearly cause the financial collapse by not raising the deficit ceiling last may.

The tea party will defect when they see the numbers. The only- reason the support the Ryan plan is that it is not Obama's-and they have none of their own-so when they actually look at the numbers they will be horrified and back away.

And seniors and soon to been ones doesn't want to lose the benefits they worked so hard for.

Ryan is a sure loser-because he diverts attention from the economy and Romney himself.

The Ayn Rand crowd wants you to believe in their Groupon medicare plan.

Does anyone bother to actually read analyses of the claims made by the parties? Here, let me inform many of the posters, and correct the author of this article, in regards to the cuts from Medicare allegedly proposed by Obama.

The difference between Obama cutting $500 billion from Medicare and Ryan cutting $700 billion from Medicaid is very simple. One claim is true, the other is not. I'll leave it to those who actually know how to read to decide which is which.

Observational question:

Why would Mitt Romney not put out his plan and then select a running mate that jived with him and his ideas. Instead he picks a running mate and then sees if he fits in Ryans plans?

It's time to confront the lies of Obama and his thugs (not that the facts will deter them from continuing to lie)

Here are the facts from the Ryan-Wyden Medicare Reform Proposal

Our Plan includes the following parts:

Choice: Starting in 2022, a new Medicare program will begin offering seniors a choice among Medicare-approved private plans and the traditional Medicare plan – much like the choice of plans Members of Congress have. Any private plan that wishes to participate in this new program must provide at least as comprehensive a benefit as traditional fee-for-service Medicare, and the traditional program will be strengthened so that it can effectively compete in this new marketplace. This marketplace will supplant Medicare Advantage. Any senior at or above age 55 today will see no changes in the Medicare program.

Affordability: Coverage will be guaranteed through a new “premium support” system that encourages plans to provide high-quality care more efficiently. Private plans will compete directly with traditional Medicare based on their ability to provide quality coverage at an affordable lower cost. Premium support levels will be determined by the cost of the second-lowest-cost plan, as well as traditional Medicare. For the first time, seniors will be protected from catastrophic health care costs with a new limit on out-of-pocket costs for all seniors. Seniors who are eligible for Medicaid or other income assistance will be guaranteed ongoing coverage without any additional costs.

Protecting the Guarantee: In the event that these efforts do not stem the rising tide of Medicare spending, beginning in 2023 there will be a cap on cost growth of 1 percent over Gross Domestic Product, plus inflation. Any increase over that cap will be reflected in reduced support for the sectors most responsible for cost growth, including providers, drug companies, and means-tested premiums.

Protecting Seniors: This reformed Medicare program will include the toughest consumer protections in American government. The history of seniors’ programs has shown that whenever a new program is created, fraudulent schemes spring up to exploit its participants.To ensure ample protection from scam-artists and bad actors, the program will not only require insurance coverage protections such as guaranteed issue and risk adjustment,but it will also require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to actively review marketing practices and benefit adequacy. For new private plans, CMS will retain the authority it currently possesses to assess bids in order to weed out junk plans and unqualified insurers. Seniors will be provided with simple, easy-to-understand information about the plans that are available in their areas during their annual open-enrollment period, explaining options and prices, and they will be told exactly how their current plan compares to the next-lowest-cost option. Traditional Medicare will always be offered as a viable and robust choice.

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/~/media/Files/2011/WydenRyan.pdf

Ryan hasn't suffered a day in his life, he is just another Millionaire looking out for other Millionaires. He and Romney just want to get Richer.

These Millionaire backers expect a return on their investment, they are all in Big business to make Big money. They know if Romney gets in they will have BIG returns on their investment in him other wise, why do it?

They want that Big Money and screw you, the Mormons will control it all !!!

Has anybody requested Ryan's Tax Returns, I am sure Mitt approved of them. They are probably consistent with his.

Have you heard this joke yet?

According to Romney, Ryan, Trump et al, we don't have to be scared of Medicare revamp (or should I call it gutting) by Ryan plan because, "Even if you are 23 you can either get vouchers or sign on to the current version of the medicare" Oh yeah, and you can buy Brooklyn Bridge and Trump Towers when you reach the age of 65!!!

Bottom line, Medicare is in trouble and no matter which party is elected, something will be done about it and it's gonna hurt....bad. And I for one would not want to be sitting in the White House when the s...t hits the fan. Too bad we just can't elect Obama right now and let it be him and the democrats.

We dont need to waste our money on Medicare. Old people die. That's just the good Lord's way. And sick people are sick for a reason, because they are dumm. These Liberals want to take away our rights! They want to tell me I need to spend less on health insurance. That's crap! And they want to tell my sewage treatment corporation how to manage my sewage "responsibly." Who is the government to tell ME how to act! They think they're so smart just cuz they went to college and read books and question things. Well my corn-fed brothers and sisters from the south and mid-west are so smart we dont need college cause the good book tells us all the truths in the world.

to DOC S - does it make sense to you that a group of 12 people could actually make decisions about every case before them- use your head a bit.

also, I remember a time when doctor's offices called the insurance company for pre approval for a patients procedure and guess who denied or granted approval - a nurse - yep a nurse, not my board certified physician but a nurse .

Also, it would seem that besides having lobotomies, most Righties have also had humor-ectomies! That would certainly explain how easy it is for The GOP Mullahs to control them.

Ryan's budget plan would have people like Romney who makes $20 million plus per year pay ZERO taxes on it. That is a fact.

Libs are in a tail spin.

To defend Obama means they have to answer why Obama has done nothing when they go after Romney and Ryan.

Because that cant explain why Obama has not addressed the largest issue we face as a country, they rather throw barbs and meaningless side shows instead of understanding the simple, Some times it is what it is and we have to deal with the real issue at hand

If the GOP had NOT created this debt crisis, we would have no reason to rescue Medicare because it would be solvent for a long time. But the GOP created the debt crisis for the EXPRESSED purpose of privatizing SS and Medicare. It was a well known plan, the gop announced it frequently, but dumb Americans continued to vote in the bastards taht finally pulled off the plan and create a debt crisis from which we many NEVER recover.

Deliberately endangering the national security and financial stability if the United States is TREASON!

Hilarious! Gaffe-man can't even announce his running mate without having to do a week's worth of damage control....

I love how republicans wring their hands over the effect the countries debt will have on future generations and then throw everybody under the Medicare bus if they are younger than 55.

For those of us who are baby boomers, it gives us a last great opportunity to show our youthful idealism wasn't total BS. Or, if not, we'll prove that all the bad things said about us are mostly true.

Is steeveno actually a thespian who even does the act in front of paying customers???!!!

Media....Are you in full attack mode yet???? there is no pretense that the media will be fair or equal....They want socialism and they want it now. They consider anything less "disruptive". The medias first job is to support socialism and the radicals who would deliver socialism....reporting the news is way down the list....

Romney is so closely tied to this guy than ever, and both of them don't want to tell us what tax loopholes they would get rid of until AFTER the election. They want to see what Americans (1% - there 47 donors) want to get rid of. Yeah we really trust the two of you. We will be in a world of hurt if these two end up in the White House. Everyone please go out and vote, check ahead of time to see if your name is on the ballot. Ask your co-workers, neighbors, friends and family members to vote and have voting parties but please don't let these two win. If they win we lose.

So all the Republicans are now on record cutting Medicare $719 billion and now they are gonna have to vote to put the $719 billion back.

Sounds like a John Kerry moment.

Rob-me Romney say's he has a plain for everything. So when will he show these plains??? He was hoping the Rob-me Ryan plain was going to be celebrated by the voters, but it didn't, so now he is trying to separate himself from that plain because he does not have any plains to show, like his and Rob-me Ryan's secret taxes.

But the American people do know about that $77000 deduction for his wifes Ann's hobbie horse she supported in the Olympic more that she supported the Americans Teams like 1st Lady M. Obama did.

Finally, Romney said Obama is the "only one president that I know of in history that robbed Medicare." In reality, several presidents have reduced Medicare spending.

We reviewed this history in detail in a fact-check of Romney’s statement from December, "Only one president has ever cut Medicare for seniors in this country . . . Barack Obama." We rated that False. Many presidents have sought to rein in Medicare spending.

Here are a few highlights from that fact-check:

• President Ronald Reagan cut Medicare by reducing payments to hospitals, and he cut benefits by raising deductibles.

• President George H.W. Bush cut benefits by repealing a law that would have expanded coverage for drugs and catastrophic illness.

• President Bill Clinton cut Medicare by changing payments to doctors and other providers, which could be considered to have an indirect effect on beneficiaries.

Our ruling

Romney said, "There's only one president that I know of in history that robbed Medicare, $716 billion to pay for a new risky program of his own that we call Obamacare."

The only element of truth here is that the health care law seeks to reduce future Medicare spending, and the tally of those cost reductions over the next 10 years is $716 billion. The money wasn’t "robbed," however, and other presidents have made similar reductions to the Medicare program.

We rate this statement Mostly False.

$700 billion in Medicare cuts?

Because we’re wonks ourselves at PolitiFact, our ears pricked up at the claim in recent days that Obama cut $700 billion out of Medicare. Just a few weeks ago, the oft-cited number was $500 billion. How did he manage to cut another $200 billion when no one was looking?

Well, there are cuts and then there are CUTS. Neither Obama nor his health care law literally "cut" a dollar from the Medicare program’s budget.

Rather, the health care law instituted a number of changes to reduce the growth of Medicare costs. At the time the law was passed, those reductions amounted to $500 billion over the next 10 years.

What kind of spending reductions are we talking about? They were mainly aimed at insurance companies and hospitals, not beneficiaries. The law makes significant reductions to Medicare Advantage, a subset of Medicare plans run by private insurers. Medicare Advantage was started under President George W. Bush, and the idea was that competition among the private insurers would reduce costs. But in recent years the plans have actually cost more than traditional Medicare. So the health care law scales back the payments to private insurers.

Hospitals, too, will be paid less if they have too many re-admissions, or if they fail to meet other new benchmarks for patient care.

Still, the overall Medicare budget is projected to go up for the foreseeable future. The health care law tries to limit that growth, making it less than it would have been without the law, but not reducing its overall budget. So claims that Obama would "cut" Medicare need more explanation to be fully accurate. In the past, we’ve rated similar statements Half True or Mostly False, depending on the wording and context.

Because Medicare spending gets bigger every year, the cost-saving mechanisms in the health care law also get bigger. Also, it takes a few years for the health care law’s savings mechanisms to kick in. In fact, the effects of time are the main reason the $500 billion number has turned into $700 billion.

The CBO determined in 2011 that the federal health care law would reduce Medicare outlays by $507 billion between 2012 and 2021. In a more recent estimate released this year, the CBO looked at the years 2013 to 2022 and determined the health care law affected Medicare outlays by $716 billion.

So it’s timing that’s making the "cuts" bigger, not changes to Medicare.

Does the Ryan budget ‘protect those cuts’?

Now onto our second question: Does Ryan’s budget keep the reductions in Medicare spending? The short answer is yes.