Does Ending Medicare Mean Ending Medicare?

It Kind of Seems Like It Does

After the introduction and passage in the House of Representatives of the Ryan proposal on Medicare, Democrats began to charge that the legislation would put an end to Medicare.  Republicans have been outraged, and the issue is the  main one in the special election in western New York state, where the Republican candidate has supported the Ryan proposal.

Here is a quote from a report on the campaign in the Buffalo News.

http://www.buffalonews.com/topics/chris-lee/26-special-election/article424928.ece

 Hochul is the Demorcat, Corwin the Republican.

Asked to specify just how Hochul had lied about Corwin's stance on the issue, Harakal cited Hochul's claim that the Republican wants to "end Medicare."
He said Corwin said she would vote for the GOP budget reforming Medicare not to end it, but to save the program, beset by spiraling health care costs and the many retiring baby boomers.

Now Medicare is spelled with a capital M, because it is a specific plan, not a generic concept.  Medicare is medical insurance provided by the federal government to those over the age of 65.  It consists of Part A, hospital insurance, Part B major medical insurance and Part D, prescription drug insurance.  Part A is provided free and Part B requires a monthly premium.  Part D is “premium subsidy” for prescription drug coverage provided by private insurance programs. There are specific deductibles and co-pays. In short, Medicare is a very specific program.

The Ryan proposal passed by the House would replace Medicare with what Republicans term “premium subsidy”, a term which the Dismal Political Economist is ready to accept, as opposed to “vouchers”.  Once the program is adopted, those eligible would enroll in private insurance plans provided by private insurance companies.  Medicare as it is known today would simply not exist.

Now Republicans want to append the name “Medicare” to their program, but that just will not fly.  Their plan is not Medicare, and to call it Medicare is their attempt to hide the fact that they want to end Medicare.  Their proposal has little support, and a close election in the heavily Republican race will mean even less support in the future.  One must think, however, that were the Republicans a little more honest the plan might have a little more support.