This Business of Medicare Vouchers....

For several weeks now, I have had a Google Alert for news of the Ryan Plan for Medicare. Not surprising, it scared the heck out of me.

Ryan's plan was conceived because there is a fear that Medicare is running out of time to be able to balance its books.

That is a bit of nonsense if we are to accept another government form of accounting as being the unassailable truth. This is like looking up at Mount Fuji and knowing that gazillions of people before you have made it to the top. However if you don't feel like you will be able to breathe, or your knees won't take you that far, you are indeed likely to be skeptical of someone who tells you it is going to be duck soup. In this case, miso and duck soup. At any rate, you don't believe that this bozo has all the facts.

Well that is the case with the Paul Ryan Plan for Medicare. I don't care what anyone says, I want to have the facts for myself.

And thus the Google Alert that force feeds me article after article concerning this skinny numbskull's well meaning attempt to innovate. Only problem is that his ideas are really not that original.

For example, his savings for Medicare, which are going to come from vouchers, are the same as the savings projected by the Obama Administration for current policy changes. The Ryan plan will divert the savings into the national "defense fund" whereas Obama will use the monies in medical areas.

Haven't we had enough of Republican war mongering...excuse me, war policy? Somewhere in the Obama numbers is one TRILLION DOLLARS for future projected costs of the disabled coming home from these recent war exercises in Iraq and Afghanistan.

My heart bleeds for our young men and women who thought they were doing the right thing after 9/11 and found themselves less than they were before. They are coming home as heroes but jobs are not waiting for them and, if disabled, jobs may never be there in the same context as they were before.

We are coming up on Grandparent's Day. Every year for a decade, it has coincided with the 9/11 weekend. The Grandparents Grove at Mercer County Park is gorgeous this time of year and the Office on Aging maintains a bulletin board with a calendar and all sorts of news. Check it out!

Perhaps this year we can remember and celebrate family values and traditions while embracing changes in our society. Perhaps it is the desire to leave something of ourselves behind, but seniors are especially good at thinking of others. We must look ahead at those challenges to our economy and how we can now reach out and help our disabled soldiers move forward.

By the way, the Ryan vouchers have been estimated to cost the average senior between $6,000 and $12,000 extra, above present Medicare amounts, just to keep comparable coverage.

This column will include further information and investigation into the options put forth by changes in medical coverage during 2012.

Seniors Rock!