Citizen's Council for Health Freedom Says Medicare Needs Replacement, Not Rescue

ST. PAUL, MN--(Marketwire -08/31/12)- Much talk has ensued about Congressman and Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan regarding his Medicare reform program. While the plan takes important steps toward fixing the ills of an expensive, unfunded liability, the Citizens' Council for Health Freedom says an exit path to move away from Medicare completely to a more efficient, effective and individually maintained plan is necessary to meet the care and coverage needs of the coming generations of seniors.

The Ryan plan proposes repealing Obamacare and its rationing board, the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). However, it proposes the implementation of a government "exchange for Medicare plans" which would act very much like the exchanges in the Affordable Care Act, with many of the same cost and privacy intrusion pitfalls.

"While the Ryan plan makes some important strides by recognizing the coming Medicare crisis, it needs to go a step further and create a substitute for the rising generations of seniors who have paid into a program that is expected to be bankrupt in the very near future," said Twila Brase, President on the Citizens' Council for Health Freedom. "While Ryan's plan wisely moves Medicare to a 'premium support'-defined contribution program, it is still a government entitlement program for all citizens age 65 and older. We envision a future where citizens buy their own life-long insurance policies free of political agendas, beltway bureaucracy, and Congressional budget constraints. Once Obamacare is repealed, free-market health insurance programs will provide the best opportunity to meet the needs of future senior citizens without the inefficiency and high cost of government involvement."

The Citizens' Council for Health Freedom applauds Congressman Ryan for opening a national dialogue about the critical precipice that Medicare is on. But in order to make meaningful strides in creating a program that supports high-quality care and suits the needs of each individual, the Citizens' Council for Health Freedom asserts that the free market offers the best way to achieve those goals.

Twila Brase is president and co-founder of the Citizens' Council for Health Freedom. She has been called one of the "100 Most Powerful People in Health Care" and one of "Minnesota's 100 Most Influential Health Care Leaders." The Council's efforts have stopped government-issued treatment directives, added informed consent requirements for access to patient data and defeated a proposed Health Insurance Exchange. Brase's daily radio commentary, Health Freedom Minute, is a 60-second radio address on pressing health care issues. She has been interviewed by CNN, Fox News, Minnesota Public Radio, NBC Nightly News, NBC's Today Show, NPR, New York Public Radio, the Associated Press, Modern Healthcare, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Washington Times, among others.

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Citizen's Council for Health Freedom Says Medicare Needs Replacement, Not Rescue