Medicare: Sorting out fact from fiction in proposals
As the candidates continue to compare and contrast their respective plans for Medicare reform on the campaign trail, we're joined by two experts who will sort out fact from fiction. The federal program provides health insurance to 50 million seniors and disabled Americans.
What will each plan really mean for current and future Medicare recipients? How much will the plans cost?
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President Obama's plan fundamentally relies on slowing Medicare spending gradually.
Romney, meanwhile, would dramatically remake the program. He'd change it from one that's largely run by the federal government to one that's largely run by private insurers.
"I know my own view is I'd rather have a private plan," he said in the debate. "I'd just as soon not have the government telling me what kind of health care I get. I'd rather be able to have an insurance company. If I don't like them, I can get rid of them and find a different insurance company."
Stephen Parente, professor of health finance at the University of Minnesota and a former adviser to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, will join The Daily Circuit Thursday.
"What they ideally want to do, if they were to win, is to say, 'OK, let's take a timeout here and see what we have proposed that would make more sense,'" Parente said in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
David Kendall, senior fellow for health and fiscal policy at Third Way, will also join the discussion.
LIVE CHAT: Medicare on the campaign trail
