The New York Metro chapter of Physicians for a National
Health Program (PNHP), an 18,000-member national
organization, denounces the federal debt ceiling deal
signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday.
“Politicians who say Medicare and Social Security are
spared cuts are not being honest,” said Dr. Oliver
Fein, Chair of PNHP-NY Metro. “Plans to cut these vital
programs are simply being delayed until later in the
year. Balancing the books by cutting programs that help
the sick and the elderly is unconscionable.”
The Budget Control Act includes a 2% across-the-board
cut to Medicare, which will be triggered automatically
unless Congress accepts a budget reduction plan by a
12-member “Supercommittee” before December 23. Even if
the panel’s proposal is approved, cuts to Medicare and
Social Security are virtually certain in that plan.
“Instead of closing corporate tax loopholes and raising
taxes on the wealthy, the lawmakers are blaming people
who need health care. If they were truly interested in
lowering health care costs, they would deal with the
elephant in the room: an unaffordable health care
system bloated by the private insurance industry’s $400
billion a year of profits and administrative wastes.
What would actually cut health care costs for everyone?
Improving and expanding an efficient public program,
like Medicare, to everybody,” said Dr. Fein.
Since Medicare has a 3% overhead, compared with 17-28%
for private health insurance, advocates for a
universal, affordable health care system have long
pushed for a public insurance system based on an
improved version of Medicare for everyone.
Dr. Fein added, “An effective social program like
Medicare is not the cause of our economic problem; it
is the solution. Medicare is a government-funded
program that is much more efficiently run than its
private counterpart. It prioritizes people’s needs
instead of private profits. This approach is the basis
for a healthy society, both physically and fiscally.”
Nothing is off the table for the upcoming
“Supercommittee” that will propose a plan for the
second round of cuts. Medicare, Medicaid, and Social
Security have traditionally been the prime targets of
any such proposal. Deep cuts to Medicare could include
shifting major costs to beneficiaries, 50% of whom earn
less than $22,000 a year.
“People on Medicare see it as a lifeboat. My patients
know that if they’re on Medicare, they’re safe. But now
this is being threatened,” said Dr. Alec Pruchnicki, a
geriatrician and Board member of PNHP-NY Metro. “What
should be done instead is fix Medicare Part D and give
the government the power to negotiate drug prices with
the pharmaceutical companies, the way the VA already
does. That would save tens of billions of dollars.”
“It’s not only about what is in this bill, since so
much is still up in the air, but the larger political
environment that allowed the conversations surrounding
this bill to be possible,” said Dr. Elizabeth
Rosenthal, a dermatologist and PNHP-NY Metro Board
member. “Doctors have to advocate for their patients,
and we can’t remain silent when the foundation of our
social safety net is being dismantled. This is a life
and death issue.”
PNHP-NY Metro is part of a large and growing national
movement dedicated to protecting and expanding the
country’s social safety net. Stakes have been raised
substantially by the debt ceiling deal, and
professional and grassroots organizations working
together are intensifying their organizing before the
urgent deadline of December 23, before which Congress
must vote on the second round of cuts.