even though he wasnt convicted , the house did their job and impeached him.

[phleshdef]

78. No, its not absurd. Its math. Though I think we both agree on the right solution.

The fact is, unless we get everyone paying into the same pool, then Medicare will be crushed under its own weight.

You can eliminate most of the fraud. You can allow negotiating for lower drug prices. You can do all of that. At the end of the day, we still have too many people who need medicine, treatments and/or surgical procedures in order to stay alive and we aren't putting enough money into the pool to cover those people.

The real solution, of course, is to have everyone pay into the same system. Private insurance would be for supplemental, non-essential services at most. This way, the younger and healthier people can hold up everyone else. And when those people become old and riddled with health problems, the next generation can return the favor. But lets face it, the American people aren't quite there yet. We'll know the American people are there whenever it elects a Congress willing and able to take those steps. It hasn't yet, so thats not going to happen until it does. In the meanwhile, we have to do the books right. We have to have a substainable plan, even if its not ultimately the one carried out. And if we can trim some of the costs by reducing reimbursements to providers, I'd rather start there than make direct cuts to benefits. We either have to put more money into the system or we have to take costs out of it. I want to do the former, but until the American people elect the right Congress and Senate, we will have to deal with the latter. Thats all there is to it.