http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/03/can_we_control_costs_without_c.html
"The board will propose packages of reforms that bring Medicare in line with certain spending targets. Those reforms won't increase cost sharing or taxes and they won't change eligibility or benefits. Instead, they're reforms of what Medicare pays for and how it pays for it."
This is a straight up rationing commission. Their only job is to reduce costs by reducing benefits on a blanket basis. The Tea Party fears of "death panels", which I made fun of as ridiculous, actually have a degree of legitimacy - not on an individual basis, but on a nationwide one.
Why is it so pivotal that rationing be done top down, instead of bottom-up, with a competitive insurance market and some variation of Wyden-Bennett? As in, ration me out of acupuncture and chiropractice and psychiatric counseling because those are benefits I'm willing to risk. Ration someone else out of other treatments based on what they're willing to pay for health insurance beyond a basic voucher, or what their own biology/family history indicates will be a problem.
The Democrats really sh&t the bed on this one.
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