Paul Ryan's plan will impact health care in the US to the point of rationed care for seniors in the future. Medicare is the most successful social program in the US for seniors and is better run than any insurance company operating in the US today. Under Ryan's plan it is like the Medicare recipients are pulling up the ladder to all that are following them as the boat is leaving the dock. These folks will be stranded in debt and will not be close to affording medical care under Ryan's new plan. I cannot understand why the Republican base does not understand that their leadership is running them into the ground and they are all cheering as they do it to them. They have become just a gaggle of Lemmings and the cliff is not too far off.

 I agree with Paul Ryan that Medicare is unsustainable as it exists today. However, I do not agree with his plan. I would like to see people continue to have a choice between Medicare and Medicare Advantage with the difference being paid by the person electing to have Medicare Advantage. I think that we will also have to start paying more for Medicare than we do today. I think that new retirees should, for example,  start paying 2% more of the total premium starting next  year with the amount increasing by an additional 2% each year thereafter. When I retire in six years at 66, I would be paying 12% more of the premium. By the time the first of the 54 and under crowd get there the percentage would have increased to 24%. It would have more of an immediate impact on the deficit and it would be more fair as compared to an abrupt change in the plan. I am willing to bit the bullet some to help out. I cannot in good conscience pass the burden all on to those younger than me.

A person could avoid paying more for Medicare if they worked longer and did not go on Medicare at age 65 because they would have paid into the Medicare fund instead of drawing from it. For example, the amount that the retiree would have to pay could be decreased by 1/2 percent for each month worked past age 65. If the person retired at age 70 and went onto Medicare 60 months past age 65, the amount they had to pay for Medicare would be reduced by 30%.

Think about those 64 year old boomers who have had the payroll deductions (SS et al) for their entire working lives. Now some 30 year old is saying they shouldn't avail themselves of the "entitlement" programs and services.