How Medicare Cuts Should Work

In an odd twist of political fate, Democrats have called for cuts in Medicare of up to half a trillion dollars over ten years, and Republicans have opposed those cuts. While not a fan of Medicare, but certainly a fan of cutting the massive wasteful spending that occurs in the system, I believe a more ethical way of weaning Americans off of Medicare must be created.

Conservatives may not like this approach, but older people have paid into Medicare for 35 or more years with the promise of a financial return. To cut their benefits with the ax Democrats have proposed is not right. It will hurt the nation financially, but I think the cuts must be phased in over a period of time, in order that Americans who will be the recipient of said cuts will have time to save money and adjust their retirement goals before the cuts kick in. Of course, stopping the massive fraud and the aforementioned waste in Medicare would help the sustainability of the program quite a bit, and perhaps give us a bit more time to phase Americans out of Medicare, or at least into a more sustainable version of it if the program isn’t eliminated.